The Knight is Still Young
by Lexa-Jean-Ride
Summary: Michael is kidnapped during an assignment and left for dead when a young girl finds him and saves him, when he returns to thank her he finds out about her abusive family and tries to help when things get complicated and he finds out that the girl is actually his daughter. I suck at summaries, better than it sounds, please read.
1. Chapter 1

**I hope you like my new story. Please R&amp;R.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Knight Rider or any of its characters, I do however own Ashley and her adopted family.**

Knight Rider: a shadowy flight into the dangerous world of a man who does not exist. Michael Knight, a young loner on a crusade to champion the cause of the innocent, the helpless, the powerless, in a world of criminals who operate above the law.

**Chapter 1**

Michael had been missing for days, no one seemed to be able to find him. Not even KITT. Devon had people out looking for Michael day and night, but nothing had come from it and KITT was worried. So was Bonnie, she and Michael were like brother and sister and she hated not knowing where he was at all times. At first she just wondered where he was and what he was up to, but when KITT came back from a ride and said that Michael had disappeared then she got worried. Everyday she asked Devon if he'd found out anything on his whereabouts and everyday its same answer, nothing.

'I'm sorry Bonnie.' Devon sighed.

'Well, why we're sitting here being sorry Michael is who knows where and in who knows what condition!' Bonnie replied angrily. It had been almost two weeks since Michael had been proclaimed missing and so far they had no idea where he was.

Meanwhile a girl had been out walking trying to find one of her neighbours to hang out with, not many of them actually liked her, but she did have one friend. So far her search had been unsuccessful and she knew she would have return home soon or her Father would be angry with her.

Ashley was actually an orphan who had been given to an orphanage when she was roughly eight months old and was adopted by a family four years later. Since then she had received very little love or compassion from anyone and had to put up with being used as nothing more than a trophy. Her adoptive parents had only adopted her so they could show her off to the other people in the neighbourhood and so others would think they were kind people. As such they never questioned the large bruises that she seemed to have almost constantly or the amount of cuts she had on her face and arms.

In truth Ashley hated the people she lived with, she knew that as soon as she was old enough she was going to leave and never come back. She may be only nine years old, but she knew what they were doing to her was wrong even though every time she tried to tell someone about it they ignored her or told her she was lying. So now she tried to spend as much time away from them as she could, normally walking on their land or trying to make friends with the other kids even though the majority of them sneered at her for being to young to hang out with them, to boring or sometimes just to darn ugly since her face was normally covered in cuts and bruises.

She had been out for hours and she knew it was time to head back to their modest little house so turned and headed back, but on the way she heard a muffle groan from behind a tree and she called out.

Michael had been wandering around in the bush ever since he had gotten out of KITT to explore what everyone thought was an abandoned where house as part of a case, but a few seconds after he had entered he been knocked out by a couple of thugs before being stowed in the trunk of a car and dumped in the middle of nowhere.

_Well this is great_. Michael thought to himself. He had no phone, no GPS, no water, no food and no shelter. These people had obviously intended for him to die and he knew that if he didn't find someone soon these people would probably get their wish.

He had been walking for days, but he had no idea what direction he was travelling and for all he knew he could be walking away from civilisation. He tried to remain hopeful, but his hope was running out much like his energy, in a few more days he wouldn't be able to move. In fact it was a struggle to keep going even now. Eventually he had collapsed and passed out beneath a large tree and he kept slipping in and out of consciousness, by now he had managed to regain his consciousness and he tried to sit up, he groaned with effort and gave up when he heard a voice.

'Hello, is anyone there?' At first he thought he was imagining it, but he decided to answer anyway.

'Over here.' He said, his voice dry and raspy. He then heard footsteps from behind the tree and when tried to see who it was a head appeared next to him.

'Oh wow. How long have you been out here?' It was a girl. She had shoulder length chestnut coloured hair and brilliant blue eyes, that was all he saw before he fell unconscious once more. The girl pulled out a water bottle, prized open Michael's mouth and poured some of the water down his throat. He came awake spluttering and smiled at the girl for giving him a drink. She helped him take another swig from the bottle then searched her pockets for a phone. It suddenly dawned on her that she'd left at home and when she tried to search Michael's pockets he pushed her hands away. 'I need to borrow your phone.' She explained, Michael stared at her dazed. 'Hmm...'

_How can I get you home?_

'Who...Who are you.' Michael asked.

'My name's Ashley Pitfield and I need to get you back to my house.' Michael nodded but his eyelids were heavy and started to close again. Ashley shook him awake and pulled him to his feet. He was weak and couldn't stand on his own so Ashley let him lean on her and she started walking him to her house.

It was taking them longer this way and they only made it five minutes before Michael fell forward and Ashley couldn't hold him.'Please get up. Come on its only another five minutes to my house, then you can lie down on a nice comfortable bed.' She tried to pull him up, but this time he refused. Ashley watched in shock as his eyes rolled back into his head. Instantly she turned and ran to the house. She stumbled up the steps and burst in through the front door.

'What in the world?' Her mum gasped.

'Listen Lisa, there's a man about five minutes from here and he needs help.'

'Why doesn't he come up to the house then?' She asked snidely.

'He was unconscious and he's too weak to get up, now come on.' She grabbed Lisa's hand and dragged her out the door. 'He was unconscious and he's too weak to get up, now come on.' She grabbed Lisa's hand and dragged her out the door. They ran through the trees and scrub until they found Michael in the same place that Ashley had left him. He was just coming to again when he saw Lisa hit Ashley.

'You stupid kid!' Bang. Slapped in the face, leaving a large red mark and tears sprung to her eyes. 'Why did you even talk to this guy?'

He needs help.' She replied.

'Thank you Ashley.' Michael said groggily.

'What are you, a drunk?' Lisa asked angrily.

'No.' He replied groggily.

'Come on we've got to get him into the house.' Ashley said and she along with a reluctant Lisa managed to pull him up, he draped his arms round their necks and the brought him to their house. As soon as they got inside Lisa dropped Michael, leaving him to Ashley. 'Urgh.' She groaned under his weight and struggled to get him on to the lounge.

'Sorry Ashley.' He murmured.

'It's fine...Um...What's your name?'

'Michael.'

'Nice to meet you Michael.' Ashley replied and she went and poured the two of them a cold glass of water. 'Here.' She helped him drink part of his.

'Thanks.'

'It's alright. What happened to you anyway?'

'It's a long story, what happened to your face?'

'Another long story.' She sighed. 'Anyway how long were you out there for?'

'I have no idea.' He said slipping into unconsciousness again.

The next time he woke up he was in a hospital with a IV drip in his arm and was being watched by his friends. Bonnie and Devon were standing at the end of his bed waiting for him to wake up again and as soon as he did Bonnie rushed to him and gave him a gentle, but firm, hug.

'Bonnie?' Michael asked breathing in her familiar smell.

'Yes Michael.' She replied happily. 'You had us worried sick.' She said going to stand back with Devon.

'What happened? How did I get here?' Michael asked confused.

'A young girl called to hospital and they went and collected you in an ambulance.' Devon explained.

'What happened to the girl?'

'She is still at home with her parents, why?'

'No reason.' He shook his head and tried to sit up. 'How's KITT?'

'Better now that he knows where you are and that you're safe.' The AI's voice came through his comlink.

'Hey buddy.' Michael smiled.

'Hello Michael. I am glad to hear from you again.'

'You too pal. So Devon did you finish the case without me?'

'Yes, the police apprehended the men and got Miss Hewett back.' Devon replied. Then the nurse came in and inspected Michael as she changed his IV and replaced it with a full one.

'Well Mr Knight, you're very lucky to be alive. You should thank that young girl for saving you because without her I don't think we would have found you for a lot longer.' She said before leaving.

'So who was this girl that found you?' Devon asked.

'She said her name was...Ashley... She found me and brought me to her parents house, it must have been her that called the hospital, I need to find her.' The other two looked at him with arched eyebrows. 'Just so I can thank her.'

'Right. Anyway you have to recover a bit more before you are going anywhere.' Bonnie said and she went to go find KITT.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer I don't** **own** **Knight** **Rider**, **just** **Ashley**.

Several days later Michael had recovered and he decided to drive KITT to where he thought Ashley's house was, luckily enough she saw him and brought him around the back.

'Michael what are you doing here?' She asked confused.

'I wanted to thank you for helping me the other day.' He replied.

'It was nothing, but I don't think it's a good idea for you to be here; Lisa and Morgan aren't what you'd call friendly to many people.'

'I see and what happened to your nose?' He asked seeing blood trailing down from it.

'It's nothing, now you need to go. Or else they will-'

'Ashley! Who are you talking to?' A male voice called angrily.

'Uh, no one!' She lied.

'Don't lie to me you brat!' He called then he came outside and stared angrily at Michael. 'Who are you?'

'My name's Michael and I work for the Foundation for Law and Government.'

'Why are you talking to a cop? You idiot!' He yelled and hit her in the face her cry out in pain.

'Sir I can explain, I found him-'

'Shut up!' He yelled. 'I don't care about your explanation!'

'But-' Ashley tried speak, but was silenced when he pushed her into the wall of the house. 'He needed help and he came back to-'

'Will you shut up?!' This time he punched her in the gut. 'You do as I tell you.' He punched in the shoulder and kicked her in the shin. She started crying as she tried to shield herself with her arms.

'Stop please.' She begged.

'Stop crying you wimp!' He kicked her in the shin again and tore her arm away from her body and pinned it to the wall, he was about to kick her again when Michael ran over and pulled him away from the girl.

The two of them fought, but Michael won pinning the other man to the ground and knocking him out cold. He then looked at Ashley who was now crying on the ground holding her knees to her chest and gently rocking back and forth.

'Ashley?' He walked over to her. She looked up at him, her face was now covered in a mix of blood and tears. 'Come on let's get you out of here, the police will deal with him.' He assured her and he helped her up and brought her over to KITT. She carefully got into the passenger side and waited for Michael to get in the driver side.

'Michael what happened?' KITT asked. Ashley stared the car was actually talking to Michael and he answered it.

'Just a small dispute KITT, however I want you to say hello to Ashley.'

'Hello Ashley, I am the Knight Industries Two Thousand.'

'We just call him KITT.' Michael explained.

'The car can talk?' She asked sniffing.

'Yes and that's not all he can do.' Michael grinned trying to cheer her up. 'Unfortunately I won't be able to show you the rest until we get to the FLAG mansion.' He explained.

'Speaking of which Michael we will be coming to the semi in five minutes.' KITT said.

'Alright, thanks KITT.' Michael replied and true enough five minutes later they were driving up the ramps and into the FLAG semi where Bonnie and Devon were waiting for him.

'Week Michael how'd it go? Did you find your saviour?' Bonnie asked smirking.

'Indeed I did and so I would like to introduce Ashley.' He said helping her out of KITT. Devon and Bonnie stared almost in shock, she wasn't what they had expected at all.

'Hello.' She said quietly.

'Hello Ashley.' Devon said.

'Ashley, this is Devon Miles and Bonnie Barstow.' Michael introduced them.

'Nice to meet you Ashley.' Bonnie smiled walking over.

'It's nice to meet you too.' Ashley said to the pretty brunette.

'Now Michael why did you bring Ashley here?'

'Because I discovered her abusive father.'

'Michael whether or not her parents are abusive is for the court to discuss, not for you to dictate.'

'Devon he beat her in right in front of me, I'm fairly sure he's broken her nose and do you see all those cuts and bruises I'm fairly sure they're from him too.'

'It's true, except he's not my father.' She said quietly.

'Wait a minute you told me-'

'He's adoptive father, I'm an orphan.' She whispered. It wasn't something that she told many people, it was one of her few secrets.

'We need to find you a place to stay then.' Devon said thinking.

'Do you remember who your real parents are?' Bonnie asked.

'I do remember something that I heard one of the carers at the orphanage had said. I was the night before I was adopted, I was only four, but I remember it very clearly. Two of them were talking and I had heard them say that people were coming to adopt me the next day, then one of them started to freak out a little saying that someone else had said they were going to adopt me too. She said that the night I was dropped off there the man who did it said that Knight, would come back for me.'

'Are you sure they said Knight? As in a last name?' Devon asked as everyone else in the room stared shocked.

'Yes, I'm sure.' She nodded.

'But that's not possible, that would mean either Jennifer or...' KITT trailed off.

'I'll ask Jennifer.' Devon went over to a computer, tapped several keys on the keyboard and called Jennifer. Seconds later he returned shaking his head. 'She denied it.'

'Michael, when did you get together with someone?' Bonnie asked teasingly.

'Michael? Is that even possible? I didn't even know his last name was Knight and who's Jennifer?.' Ashley said shocked. She turned around stared at Michael and Bonnie. That was when KITT took note of the resemblance, she had light blue eyes just like Michael's.

'Michael, I'm doing a facial analysis scan and...' Several beeps and buzzes went off. 'You are very similar.'

'How can this... I never even...' Michael was flabbergasted, somehow or another he had a daughter that he'd left at an orphanage and found several years later in an abusive family. Ashley walked away and sat on the floor next to KITT.

'I'm sorry Ashley.' KITT said quietly.

'Why are you sorry KITT, it's not you.' She sighed rubbing his passenger side door. 'I just...I thought that if I ever met my real Dad that it would be a happy reunion, that he would have missed me, cared about me and now I find out that he didn't even know that I exist.' Once again her eyes filled with tears threatening to spill over.

'It's ok, we'll work this out.' KITT tried to comfort her as he felt her warm tears on his paint work. Meanwhile the others hadn't been very happy either.

'Michael, how did this happen?' Devon asked angrily.

'I don't know.' He sighed. 'Are you sure it's me?'

'Yes, there's no one else with the last name of Knight except you and Jennifer.'

'Michael, you can tell us. You don't have to say who the mother is.' Bonnie said.

'But I don't know, I never-'. He stopped at the sound of sobbing and looked at KITT. Then down at the floor to see the young girl with her side pressed up to KITT crying. His heart went out to her, he tried to get her away from them and all he did was cause her more heartbreak. 'Excuse me.' He said and he got up and walked over to her. Her chestnut hair covered her face and prevented him from seeing it. 'Ashley?' He whispered kneeling down next to her. She looked at him, her hair parting to show her face slightly.

'Michael?' She replied.

'I'm so sorry about this.' He whispered softly.

'It's ok.'

'No, it's not. I may have helped bring you into this world and left you with brutes, now even if I'm not related to you I'm going to take care of you.' She came forward and hugged him, he gladly returned it.

'Thank you Michael.' She sobbed into his shoulder. He rubbed her back until she calmed down.

'We'd better head home Devon.' Bonnie suggested watching the other two from afar.

'Yes.' He grabbed his walkie talkie and told the driver. Bonnie sat on the lounge trying to keep herself composed, at least until they returned to the Foundation Mansion.

Bonnie had liked Michael since they first met, he was funny, strong, sensitive, kind and compassionate. They had been awkward around each other at first, but had grown to trust in one another and had become almost inseparable. She'd worry about him when he'd go on dangerous missions with KITT and he'd worry about her when there was a bad guy on the lose that could try to get her.

The two of them were best friends and unfortunately that was all they could be because the code says they can't have relationships with team members or clients. Now that she knew he might have gone on with someone broke her heart even though she knew they couldn't be together and trying to keep her feelings hidden was becoming more difficult every minute.


	3. Chapter 3

**I hope you're enjoy my story, here's the next chapter.**

Several hours later they arrived at the mansion and Ashley was blown away. The mansion was huge, especially compared with the orphanage and the Pitfield house both of which had been rather small. Devon led them inside and Bonnie showed her to her room, explaining that she and Michael would have to have a blood test the next day to confirm or deny whether or not they were related.

Her new room was cream like the rest of the mansion with a large queen size bed, grey sheets, red blankets and a matching duvet. There was a walk in wardrobe and a mahogany chest of draws along with a study table by the window overlooking the driveway. When Bonnie left to get Ashley a pair of pyjamas Ashley thought she heard shouting coming from downstairs and she snuck out of her room and to the top of the staircase to try and eavesdrop.

'Come on Michael, how could you not remember getting together with someone and having a daughter?!' Devon yelled. 'Maybe it was just a one night stand when you were still Michael Long.'

'Devon you know me, I would never do that!'

'You're right I'm sorry, but how could this have happened?' Devon asked calming down.

'She's probably not even my daughter, she might have miss heard and thought they said knight or they might have said in a different context. We don't know! Jennifer could be lying to us.' Ashley didn't get to hear the rest as Bonnie started coming back so she ducked into her room.

'Here you go, fresh pyjamas.' Bonnie smiled as she laid them on the bed.

'Thank you Bonnie.'

'You're welcome. See you in the morning.'

'Goodnight.' Then Bonnie left, closing the door behind her. Ashley got changed and climbed into the queen size bed and within minutes was fast asleep

The next morning Devon was awake earlier than usual, he was ashamed of the way he had acted the night before. He wanted to apologise to Michael, after all Michael was one of his closest friends and he should be helping him find out what happened and how he now has a daughter. He left his bedroom and headed down to his office, surprised when he saw Bonnie there waiting for him.

'Hello Bonnie, what can I do for you?' He asked cheerfully.

'I need to borrow money from the foundation.'

'Oh. What for and how much?'

'Fifty dollars to go and buy Ashley some new clothes.'

'Alright here's eighty, take it and go buy whatever she wants.' He handed her eighty dollars.

'Well Devon, I've never seen you eager to spend money before.' Bonnie smirked.

'I think she deserves a treat after yesterday.' He smiled and turned to open his door.

'I think you're right.' She nodded then headed upstairs to find the mansion's newest resident.

'Thanks Devon.' Devon turned round to face Michael.

'You're welcome, Michael, and I'm sorry about the way I acted last night.'

'It's fine, last night I tried to remember if I'd ever done anything in the past, but I just can't.' He sighed. 'There's just no way she can be my daughter.'

'Maybe the blood test will reveal more.' Devon suggested. They walked into his office where two needles had been placed on his desk along with several blood sample bottles. They sat down and waited for Bonnie and Ashley.

Ashley woke late and as she looked around at the unfamiliar room she began to panic, until the memories of the day before came flooding back to her. Michael had rescued her and this was some place called the Foundation for Law and Government. She sighed and decided to get dressed, that was when she remembered she didn't have any clothes except for the ones she was wearing yesterday so she put them back on again and was about to head downstairs when Bonnie showed up.

Ashley really wasn't comfortable with these people, they seemed nice enough and they were obviously better than the others she had lived with for the last five years, but she had heard them talking about a blood test and until she got to know them a whole lot better that wasn't going to happen. She told Bonnie who apparently understood and respected her choice before going down to tell Devon and Michael that they would have to postpone the test until a later date. So the four of them went and had breakfast then Michael took the girls shopping.

'Now don't you ladies have some shopping to do?' Devon asked. Bonnie nodded smiling and Ashley looked at them confused.

'We need to get you some new clothes.' Bonnie explained, the young girl's face lit up. 'You're coming to Michael so let's go.' Bonnie dragged him out of the chair and they said goodbye to Devon who couldn't help laughing at them.

'Remind me why am I here?' Michael asked from behind the wheel of KITT.

'Because you have to drive KITT, so be nice.' Bonnie reminded him.

'Right, but why did I have to drive him to shops for you?'

'Because I said so.' She laughed.

'Alright, alright. Anyway it is nice to be back in the saddle.'

'I missed you Michael.' KITT said and his voice modular danced.

'I missed you to pal.' Michael smiled. 'Hey Ashley, you've been awfully quiet.'

'Sorry, I was just thinking.' She replied snapping out from thoughts. KITT pulled up to the shop. 'Ok ladies KITT and I will wait out here come back when ready.' The girls got out and KITT went and found a place to park.

'Where do we start?' Ashley asked as they walked into the large mall. Bonnie shrugged and they went to the nearest clothing store.

Back in the parking lot Michael was still trying to wrap his head around things. He sighed as he stared out KITT's window.

'What's wrong Michael?' KITT asked sensing his partner's emotions.

'I just don't get it KITT. Where did she come from?'

'Who?'

'Ashley.'

'Well Michael she might have come from you, if you get what I mean.'

'Yeah partner I get it, but that might not be the case and if it is then who else? I don't remember ever finding a woman that I was willing to go all the way with, except Stephanie and she...' He paused remembering the tragedy. 'Was killed.'

'Are you sure there was no one else?'

'Positive, I mean, you'd think I'd remember.'

'Michael, I hate to ask this, but...What about Bonnie.' Michael laughed.

'No way KITT, that would never happen. We're colleagues, friends, not romantics.'

'Michael, I know that you feel for her more than what you would for a friend. I can tell.'

'Ok...Maybe I do feel for her, but I could never be with her. You know the code.' He sighed.

'Well I can't believe that I'm saying this, but sometimes I think that you've got to break the code.'

'Wow KITT, I never thought I'd hear you say that. Besides I would have remembered doing something like that, it's not the kind of thing you forget and I don't think that she is mine. There is no way.'

'Well you might have forgotten if you were drugged, or drunk or-'

'Forget it KITT.' He said frustrated.

'As you wish Michael.' The two of them sat in silence after that.

An hour later Ashley and Bonnie emerged from the mall, each carrying several bags of clothes and shoes. When they got back to KITT they noticed the boys didn't seem like themselves. KITT opened his boot and they put the bags in before shutting it and getting inside.

'Let's go.' Bonnie said and they left the parking lot. As they drove home Michael thought about what KITT had said about needing to break the code, was it possible that he and Bonnie could be together? But did she feel the same way about him? He couldn't be sure, so he decided to ignore it.

'How'd it go?' He asked casually.

'It went well, we got quite a few items.' Bonnie smiled.

'Glad to hear it.' He smiled. Then approximately fifteen minutes later they arrived back at the FLAG mansion where they all got out and took the clothes they had bought inside while KITT went to park himself in the garage.

Devon was glad to here that they'd had a good time and that the young girl was happy, he had done some research on the family Ashley had been living with and it turns out that Morgan Pitfield and his wife, Lisa, were alcoholics and Morgan had been in and out of mental institutions several times. While he was in one he assaulted a member of the staff and was kept away from everyone from then on until he was released several months later. Devon, of course, told Michael everything he had found out while Bonnie was helping Ashley set up her room with some of the things they had bought.

Michael was furious when he heard that the government still allowed these people to adopt a child, however he was pleased when Devon explained that both of them would be going to jail for the way they treated Ashley and that she was now in full custody of FLAG. They were hesitant to tell the news to Ashley though, seeming as how so much had changed for the nine year old girl in only a few days, but after talking with Bonnie they decided it was best for her to be told sooner rather than later. So they went up to her room where the found her as she was placing a single teddy bear on her bed, it was dressed in a green hoodie and little black pants.

'Ashley?' Michael asked getting her attention. 'We wanted to tell you that you won't be having anymore trouble from the Pitfields.'

'Why?'

'They've been put in jail.' Bonnie replied.

'Then what about me? You're not going to send me to another orphanage are you?' She asked scared.

'No Ashley, you will be staying here with us.' Devon explained, she nodded and went back to her teddy.

Ashley took the news well, but that was only in the perception of people who vary rarely worked with nine year old children and not to long after she was told she disappeared. They searched the mansion, but couldn't find her until Michael asked KITT for a bit of assistance and he located her in the one place no one had looked. Under her bed and when they went and looked they saw she had fallen fast asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Over the next month Ashley grew to like the mansion and the other people living in it, she enjoyed spending time with Michael and his jokes while trying to get Bonnie to help him out with something for KITT. She enjoyed spending time with Devon and listening to his wisdom and she liked talking with Bonnie about trouble that Michael had gotten himself into on numerous occasions. However she still wasn't sure what FLAG did or who Michael really was, she had wanted to ask him about, but every time they talked she would get sidetracked and forget.

Over the next month Ashley grew to like the mansion and the other people living in it, she enjoyed spending time with Michael and his jokes while trying to get Bonnie to help him out with something for KITT. She enjoyed spending time with Devon and listening to his wisdom and she liked talking with Bonnie about trouble that Michael had gotten himself into on numerous occasions. However she still wasn't sure what FLAG did or who Michael really was, she had wanted to ask him about, but every time they talked she would get sidetracked and forget.

So today when she got up and got dressed she was surprised Bonnie didn't come upstairs to say good morning so she made her way downstairs to see what everyone was doing. She found them all in Devon's office talking with a blonde lady that Ashley had never seen before. That was when she looked at the desk and saw the needles set up for the blood test, she froze.

'Ashley?' Michael asked confused when he spotted her standing stone still just inside the door.

'I can't, I can't do it.' She started backing away. Bonnie walked over to her, then grabbed her hand and looked her in the eye.

'Ashley, listen to me. You can do this, Emma is going to put a patch on your arm to num it and you won't feel a thing ok.' Bonnie tried to guide her to a chair next to the table but Ashley shook her off and bolted out the door. 'Ashley come back!' She yelled after her.

'I'll go get her.' Michael volunteered and chased after her.

'Oh dear.' Devon shook his head. 'Afraid of needles.' Bonnie nodded sighing.

Ashley ran through the hall ways and doors until she reached her room and locked herself inside. It took Michael several minutes to find her and when he knocked on the door she refused to let him in.

'Ashley? It's me, Michael, open the door.'

'No, I won't do it.' She yelled.

'Ashley I won't make you do anything that you don't want to, I just want to talk to you. That's all.' No response. 'Please.' He was relieved when he heard the lock click and the door opened. 'Thank you.' He said and the two of them sat on the bed.

'I'm sorry Michael, I...I just hate them.' A stray tear slid down her cheek.

'It's ok, I used to hate them to.'

'You did?'

'Yeah, I was terrified of them. Until I saw them save someone's life.

'Really?'

'Yeah, without the needle that person would have died.'

'Oh...Who was it?'

'That's not the important thing, the important thing is that sometimes things that are good for us hurt, but without them things would be a lot worse.' He explained, neglecting to tell her that the person that had been saved was himself. Bonnie had been watching from the door and she knew the story off by heart.

'Ashley, do you want to have another try?' She asked. Ashley and Michael turned to look at her, Ashley slowly nodded.

'I think I can try.'

'That's a girl.' Michael smiled. Then the three of them went back to Devon's office. Michael and Ashley took their seats and Bonnie started prepping them.

'I'm glad you've decided to try again.' Devon smiled as Emma numbed a place on the young girl's arm.

'And don't worry, I'm doing the same thing you are and look! I don't get numbing pads!' Michael joked.

'Hello Ashley, I'm Emma.' The blonde introduced herself.

'Hi.' Ashley squeaked nervously.

'Ok I'm going to do Ashley first, now Ashley look at Michael and wiggle your toes.' Emma put the band around the top of her arm and took the numbing pad off. Then she started sterilising the skin. Ashley did as she was told, panic starting to rise in her throat. Michael noticed and held her hand giving it a reassuring squeeze.

'It's ok Ashley, deep breaths.' He reminded her. She smiled, but the smile soon faded as she felt a scratch and a sting as the needle went into her wrist. She bit her lip and tried to focus on wiggling her toes. Soon the pain was over and the needle was out.

'You did very well.' Emma said as she stuck a band aid over the tiny wound.

'Yes you were very brave.' Devon smiled, she blushed slightly at their praise.

'Now it's my turn, right Emma.' Michael smiled.

'Yes it is Michael.' She grabbed the second needle.

'I don't think you should watch the needle.' Michael said to the girl, who nodded and looked away to Bonnie's who smiled at her. The two of them were still holding hands and she felt him tense slightly as the needle went in. Before she could say anything the needle was out and his smile was back.

'Do we know when the results from the tests will come back?'

'It will probably take a few days.' Bonnie replied.

'Oh.' Ashley replied and Bonnie was right three days later the results came back and everyone was anxious to see them, even KITT wanted to know. So when Devon called the three of them to his office, they didn't have to ask why. 'Are they here?' Ashley asked excited to know the truth.

'Indeed they are.' Devon smiled as he opened the envelope and read it.

'Well?' Michael asked impatient.

'It's a match, Michael you are Ashley's father.' Devon said. Michael was flabbergasted; he had a feeling that she was his daughter after spending so much time together, but he just didn't see how it was possible.

'Are you sure they're right?' He asked.

'Yes Michael.' Devon nodded before bringing up the problem that had been swirling around in his head ever since they found out that his friend might have a daughter. 'What are we going to do?'

'What do you mean, Devon?' Bonnie's asked.

'Well, as much as I hate to say it, Ashley is a security risk and-'

'I won't tell anyone what you do here, honest Mr Miles.' Ashley cut in.

'I'm not saying that you will, Ashley. All I'm saying is that if anyone found out who you are it could put you in serious danger.'

'He's right, anyone who wanted to get to me would be able to use you.' Michael agreed.

'So what do we do?' Bonnie's asked.

'She'll have to stay here where we can protect her and she will not be allowed to leave unless one of us is there to watch her.' Devon said.

'What about her schooling?' Michael asked.

'I've been think about that and I recommend we enrol her in Deepreach Elementary School.' Devon suggested.

'I heard of it, it's a good school, alright let's do it.' Michael nodded approvingly. Ashley liked the idea of going to a real school, it sounded fun to her and it was a chance to make friends. 'I would like to mention bed time rules. From now on you are to be in bed no later than eight thirty.' Ashley nodded.

'Yes Michael.' She said reluctantly.

'Good, now what do you say we go out for ice cream to celebrate.' Michael suggested.

'Yes!' Ashley grinned and the two of them raced off to get KITT.

'Whoever Ashley's mother is she's a very lucky woman.' Bonnie said quietly to herself.

'So what were the results?' KITT asked as the two of them opened his doors and sat down.

'Well KITT, meet Miss Ashley Knight.'

'So you are her father.' KITT said happily.

'Yes KITT.' Michael smiled at his daughter.

'Was there ever any doubt.' Ashley grinned.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you for reding and reviewing my story and I hope you like this chapter.**

'So tell me Ashley how old are you?' Michael asked.

'Nine years old.' She replied before going back to licking her strawberry flavoured ice cream.

'So that means you were born in...'

'1976, it says so here.' She showed him a small piece of card and he read it.

_Ashley, born July 1976. Please take care of her, until Knight brings her home._

'So whoever gave you to the orphanage knew who you were.' Michael reasoned while eating his vanilla and chocolate ice cream.

'Yes, but how could anyone know who I was if you didn't know?'

'Your mother would know, but that leads us to another problem, I don't know who your mother is.' He sighed frustrated.

'You really don't know?'

'No.' Michael said and they slipped into an awkward silence until he spoke again. 'So, what do you like to do?'

'I like reading, running and swimming.'

'So you're pretty athletic.'

'Inherited from you no doubt.' She smiled.

'Of course.'

'What about you? What do you like to do?'

'Well I like, running, swimming, rock music, helping people and putting criminals behind bars.'

'So what actually are you? You're not a cop, are you?' Ashley asked confused.

'No, I'm not a cop. I work for the Foundation for Law and Government, so do Devon and Bonnie.'

'Ok, what about KITT? When he told me his name he said it was the Knight Industries...Something, something.'

'The Knight Industries Two Thousand.' Michael finished.

'Yeah, so what's the story with that? Do you own Knight Industries?' Michael laughed.

'No, it was started by my...Father, Wilton Knight, sadly he passed away several years ago and my...Sister, Jennifer Knight, is now the head of the board of directors.' Michael explained. However it didn't escape Ashley's noticed the way he paused before mentioning his father and sister which made her curious, but she didn't press the issue.

'I see.' She nodded then Michael's comlink beeped.

''What is it KITT?' Michael asked.

'Devon wants us back at the mansion.' The AI replied.

'Alright we're coming.' Michael replied and they both got up and left the ice cream parlour.

Once they were inside KITT and they were back on the road again Michael asked KITT to call Devon. Within a matter of seconds the face of Devon Miles appeared on KITT's monitor.

'Yo Devon! Why do you want to see us?' Michael asked.

'Michael the Foundation has received word that Gordon Baxter is looking for you and we need to talk about further precautions with Ashley.' Devon replied.

'Alright Devon, see you soon.' He said and ended the call.

'I remember that name...' Ashley trailed off.

'He's the chameleon.' Michael explained.

'Do you think Tonie might know where he is?' KITT asked.

'Maybe, either way it's a starting place.' Michael agreed as they sped toward the FLAG mansion.

'Why is this guy looking for you?' Ashley asked.

'Well let's just say, he's not my biggest fan.' Michael replied not wanting her to worry.

It wasn't long after that they arrived back at their home, KITT parked in his garage and Michael and Ashley went to see Devon. Devon was sitting in his office, behind his desk as usual when they walked in and he looked worried.

'What's all this about?' Michael asked as he and Ashley took a seat. 'We decided that Ashley wouldn't leave the mansion without someone with her, what else do we need to discuss?'

'She starts school in a few days and we've got to be careful, with Baxter looking for you.'

'I know, but no one except the people who live here no that she is my daughter and if we keep,it that way we'll be fine I'm sure.'

'Michael?' Ashley asked quietly.

'Yes?'

'What about my last name?' She asked.

'I don't know. What do you think Devon?'

'Yes that could pose as a problem. I don't think that giving her the Knight name is a good idea.'

'Why not?' She asked confused.

'If someone had a grudge against your father and found you they could use you to get to him.' Devon explained. 'So I think staying with your old name-'

'I won't stay as Pitfield.' Ashley cut in.

'My dear it might be the only choice.' Devon tried to reason.

'No.' She shook her head.

'Then what other option is there?' Michael asked.

'She could use my last name.' The three of them turned to see Bonnie's standing in the door way shrugging.

'I don't know, you're known to a lot of people, Bonnie.' Devon sighed as Bonnie walked over. The adults continued the discussion and things started to get a bit loud, so Ashley slipped out of the room to get away from the chaos and went to see KITT.

He was parked in the garage just as they had left him and as she walked in she heard the familiar sound of his scanner moving back and forth. She walked over and gently grabbed the handle on his driver side door.

'Hello Ashley.' KITT greeted her.

'Hi KITT.' She sighed.

'What's wrong?' He asked concerned.

'Mr Miles won't let me use Michael's last name.' She said grumpily.

'Why not?'

'He thinks it might put me in danger.' She rolled her eyes.

'Well he might be right especially with- Hold on...' He trailed off. 'Michael!'

'Yeah pal?' Michael's voice came over the speaker.

'I've picked up a police frequency and I've discovered that the Chameleon has gone back to Tonie's house.'

'I'm on my way pal.' Michael said and the next thing they heard he was dashing into the garage just as Ashley was getting out of KITT. Michael gave Ashley a quick hug and got in KITT, then they two of them raced out of the garage, down the driveway and out the front gates.

**Well guys tell me what you think; who's last name should Ashley take?**


	6. Chapter 6

**I just wanted to say thanks to my loyal readers and I appreciate your comments, I hope you like this next chapter.**

'Michael you don't think he's got a grudge against Tonie for helping you put him in jail last time do you?' KITT asked.

'I think he might KITT.' Michael replied and he pressed down harder on the accelerator.

By the time the two of them arrived at Tonie's house they were shocked at what they saw through the window, the Chameleon was holding a gun to his daughter's head.

'Where is Michael Knight?' He asked angrily.

'I don't know.' Tonie replied scared.

'You're lying to me, you betrayed me, what's to say you're not just trying to protect him?' He growled.

'I might need your help KITT, so keep your scanner peeled.' Michael said getting out of the trans am.

'Of course, Michael.'

'When I give you the signal, do the police sirens.' He said and he snuck up to the door and nodded to KITT. He then burst inside as the sound of police sirens echoed from the car.

'Baxter, put down the gun.' Michael said as he ran into the house. The Chameleon turned and smirked at Michael menacingly.

'Hello Knight, looks like you showed up just in time.'

'That's right, I'm here now so you can let Tonie go, the cops are here and they got the place surrounded.'

'I don't think so Knight; you turned her against me so now you both have to die.' Then Tonie elbowed him in the stomach just as he pulled the trigger on the gun so that her missed her and Baxter doubled over groaning.

'Tonie get outside with KITT!' Michael yelled and she ran from the room leaving Michael to deal with Baxter.

'She might have got away, but she won't get far especially when you're not there to help her!' Baxter took another shot which Michael barely dodged and he ran to another part of the house.

The chase continued until Michael got behind Baxter and tried to pin him down, but Baxter managed to throw him off and escaped out the back door, when Michael went after him he had already disappeared.

'KITT, can you pick him up?' Michael asked into his comlink.

'I'm sorry Michael he's out of range.' KITT replied and Michael walked over to Tonie.

'Are you ok?' He asked.

'Yeah.' She replied.

'Do you have any idea where he might have gone?'

'No.'

'Are you sure? Even the tiniest piece of information would help.'

'He did slip the name Tesler when he was on the phone out the front of my house, but I couldn't see his face and I thought he was just someone passing by. The next minute he walks up to me, shoves a gun into my side and brings me into the house, then he started asking me questions like if I knew where you were.' She replied.

'Thanks.' He nodded and he turned to KITT, but before he got in he went back to Tonie and gently grasped her shoulders. 'We'll catch him again, Tonie, I promise and we'll make sure he can never get out. Until then be careful and call me if something happens.' He said popping a kiss on her forehead, then he got in KITT and the drove away. 'Hey KITT find anything you can on the name Tesler.' Michael waited as a series of beeps and clicks sounded and words came up on KITT's monitor.

'I've found something: Samuel Tesler. Owner of Stathex Industries, a company that deals in high powered experimental guns.'

'Sounds like something that our Chameleon would be interested in, let's go check this place out.' He suggested and KITT plotted a corse to Stathex Industries.

'Michael?' The AI asked hesitantly.

'Yes KITT?'

'There's something else you should know.'

'Lay it on me, pal.'

'Samuel Tesler is engaged to Miss Knight.'

'Jennifer?'

'Yes Michael.'

'Wow, this should be interesting.'

'That's one way of putting it.' KITT said, Michael laughed and soon they pulled up in front of a high tech where house. Michael got out of KITT, giving him the usual reminder of:

'Keep your scanners peeled.' KITT responded with the familiar whoosh of his ruby red scanner going back and forth. Michael went over to the entrance where the guard stood watching him. 'My name is Michael Knight-'. He was cut off when he heard his name called.

'Michael!' He turned around and saw Jennifer walking over to him.

'Jennifer.' He smiled embracing his "sister".

'I take it he's with you Miss Knight.' The guard assumed.

'Yes, thank you.' Jennifer nodded as the guard let him in.

'Long time no see.'

'Yes, it has been a while. How have you been?' She asked.

'You know me, living out my James Bond fantasies.' He joked.

'Oh Michael!' She hit him playfully. 'I am sorry for what I said to you in the past, you just reminded so much of Garth.' Her mood dropped.

'I know and you were afraid of him. So naturally you were afraid of me, especially after your father died.'

'Yes, but I was wrong to be afraid of you. I am proud that we share a surname and I am lucky to call you my brother.'

'Thank you and the feeling is mutual.' The two of them shared a smile.

'So what brings you here?'

'I came to see the owner; Mr Samuel Tesler.'

'I can take you to Sam.' They then found a door saying "Owner" and Jennifer opened it. Inside was a tall thin man with light brown hair and green eyes sitting behind a desk, oblivious to their presence. Jennifer coughed announcing them and the man looked up from his paper work, bewildered for a moment until he realised who it was.

'Jennifer.' He stood up from the desk and walked over to them. 'Who's this?'

'My name is Michael Knight, I'm from the Foundation for Law and Government.'

'Wait...Knight?'

'Yes Sam, he's my brother.'

'Well it's nice to meet you Mr Knight.' The two of them shook hands.

'Please call me Michael.'

'So what brings you here Michael?' He asked.

'I heard you were the man to see about guns.'

'Yes what were you looking for?'

'I heard you're going to be testing a new gun this week.'

'That's right, the new SC12, what about it?'

'We have word that someone might try and steal it.'

'I can assure you that it will be perfectly well protected, now if you'll excuse me I have some other business to attend to.' He said and he shooed Michael and Jennifer out.

'You'll have to excuse him, he gets so caught up in his work.'

'I hear you're engaged.' Michael said casually.

'Yes, a month next week. What about you? I hear I've got a niece.' She said raising an eyebrow.

'Yeah.'

'What's she like?'

'I'll bring her to meet you and you can see for yourself.'

'What if I come with you back to the Foundation? It's been a while since I've seen Bonnie and Devon.'

'Alright then, shall we say after we solve this case?'

'You're on.' They laughed.

Back at the mansion the decision had been made about Ashley's last name and after a long and rather tedious discussion they agreed that Ashley would use Michael's last name, Devon didn't approve, but after years of not having a surname, then having to use a fake one they agreed thatAshley deserved to use her real one.

Ashley flopped on her bed contented with how things had turned out and she stared out the window, wondering where Michael and KITT were and what they were doing. After she got bored and started to read one of the books Bonnie had bought for her until she peeked out her window and saw KITT was back, so she put her book on her bedside table and ran down to meet them.

'Michael!' She called happily and flung herself on him.

'Hey Ash.' Michael smiled. He had recently given her the nickname and she loved it.

'What happened, tell me everything.' She begged so they sat down and he told her what had happened, while Devon and Bonnie listened in.

'He still got away.' Michael finished frustrated at himself for not being able to catch the criminal.

'An all to common story I'm afraid.' Devon shook his head.

'How's Tonie? She must be devastated.' Bonnie said sadly.

'Yeah, we'd better keep an eye on her because knowing Baxter as well as I do, I can tell you, he will try again.' Michael agreed.

'Indeed, but he needs to be caught quickly or I'd hate to think of the damage he could cause. However I believe an early dinner is in order as a certain person has to attend school tomorrow.' He reminded them and they headed to the dining room.

**Next let's see how much trouble the daughter of Michael Knight will get into on her first day of school.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks again for the reviews I really appreciate knowing what you think so keep them coming please!**

The next morning Ashley got up a few minutes early and put on her school uniform, it was a blue, green and white plaid dress with short sleeves and plain black lace up shoes., she intended to be on time for her first day of school here. She was looking forward to meeting with kiss her own age and trying to make new friends, but before she left Devon made her promise not to tell anyone about who Michael was or what they did at the Foundation. She promised and then Michael dropped her off at her new school.

'You ready for this?' Michael asked

'Yeah.' Ashley replied excited.

'I'll be back to pick you up at three, so keep an eye out for KITT.' He reminded her.

'Yes Michael, it's kinda hard not to spot KITT.'

'Why thank you, Ashley.' KITT said.

'You're welcome.' She grinned.

''Now remember what Devon said, you can't tell anyone about me, or the Foundation and especially not KITT.' Michael warned.

'I know and I won't, wait is this it?' She asked as they pulled up in front of a large school hidden behind gates and gardens.

'Yeah this it, I'll see you this afternoon.'

'By Michael.' She gave him a hug. 'Bye KITT.' She said as she got her back out of the back seat.

'Bye Ashley.' Michael and KITT replied and they watched as she ran through the front gate ready to start learning again.

'Do you think she'll be alright?' KITT asked concerned.

'Yeah buddy I'm sure she'll be fine, now let's go try and catch us a chameleon.' He said and they drove out of the car park and back on to the main road.

'What do you suggest we do?' The AI asked.

'Let's head back to our friend Armand's to see if our Chameleon still hangs out there from time to time.' Michael suggested and they headed to the remote arms dealer.

'Very well Michael, but this time I suggest using a better disguise and a new alias so you don't get caught.'

'You may have a point there pal.'

Meanwhile Ashley was glancing around at the different areas of the school, it was twice the size of her last one and had a lot more people running around playing games on their huge oval. She couldn't help but note how clean the place was, everything was done to perfection even the kids looked better than they did at some of the other schools she had seen.

Eventually she went to the area where she was supposed to leave her bag, but she was surprised to see that each hook had a name on it and as hard as she looked she couldn't find hers. As she was searching another girl came up to her and wanted to see what was wrong.

'What's up?' A girl that was almost the same height as Ashley with light blonde hair which she kept tied back in a high ponytail and large hazel eyes asked.

'Well I can't find a hook with my name on it.' Ashley replied.

'Oh, so you must be the new girl that everyone's talking about, welcome to Deepreach.' She smiled. 'My name's Chloe, what's yours?'

'Ashley, nice to meet you.' She smiled. 'So what do I do with my bag?'

'Well there's gotta be a hook here somewhere with your name on it.' She said and they kept looking until Chloe found it. 'Hey look over here.' She said and she moved someone else's bag slightly to real a sticker with Ashley's name on it.

'Thanks.' She said putting her bag on it.

'You're welcome, now come on I'll show you where class is.' Chloe said and she led the two of them over to one of the classrooms where kids had already started lining up. 'Hey Emily.' She tapped the girl in front of them on the back so she turned around to face them; she had green eyes and black hair and smiled brightly at Chloe. 'This is Ashley, Ashley this is Emily.'

'Hi.' Ashley greeted.

'Hello.' Emily replied.

A few seconds after that and the teacher came out to let them into the classroom, she had long dark brown hair and smiling chocolate brown eyes and as she spoke Ashley couldn't help, but want to listen.

'Hello everyone, come in.' She smiled and led the class inside. 'Good morning class.'

'Good morning Miss Avery.' The class replied as she looked over them.

'Take a seat everyone.' She instructed before looking down to the papers on her desk and everyone went to their desks and sat down, everyone except Ashley. She looked back at the class and saw Ashley, she smiled at the nervousness of the young girl and invited her up the front. She came and stood next to her teacher facing the rest of the class. 'Everyone we have a new student joining us today her name is Ashley, I hope you all make her feel welcome.' She said to the class then she turned to Ashley. 'You can go and sit with Chloe, over there.' She pointed to the desk with a spare seat and Ashley went over and sat with her new friend.

'Hey.' Chloe whispered.

'Hi.' She replied.

'Now let's mark the role.' She said and she got out a pen. 'Marcus?'

'Here.'

'Abigail?'

'Here, Miss.'

'Stacie?'

'Here.'

Julie?'

'Good morning.'

'Rina?'

'Here!'

'Ben?'

'Here.'

'Tom?'

'Hello!'

'I know Ashley is here, so Harvey?'

'Hi!'

'Charlie?'

'Morning.'

'Josh?'

'Here.' The list continued on.

Several hours later Michael had got a new disguise and alias to match, he had now gone into Armand's and was unsurprised to see that the place hadn't changed a bit. The guard however accepted his entrance fee and he was to see that even Ingrid was still there and she was just as beautiful in his opinion. She asked him what he was after and told him where Armand was so he walked over to the private booth where Armand sat with his bodyguard.

'Who might you be?' Armand asked.

'John Doe.' Michael replied using his alias.

'Sit down.'

'Thank you.'

'Well Mr Doe, what can I do for you?'

'I'm looking for something special, the new SC12.'

'The SC12, well that is a rather specials piece of equipment and I already have someone who's interested in it, but I'm not the sort of man who lets honour get in the way of greed. How much are you willing to pay?'

'How soon can you get it to me?' Michael asked impatiently.

'Three days, for the right price of course.'

'How does five thousand suit you?'

'Just fine, bring it to me tomorrow and we'll discuss the time and place of delivery.'

'I will see you tomorrow.' Michael said getting up and heading out the door and went over to KITT.

'Michael I picked up that Armand received a phone call just after you left the building.' He reported.

'Let's see who he's talking to.' Michael said as he sat in KITT's leather drivers seat. Then beeps sounded and scrambled words came up on KITT's monitor.

'I'm sorry Michael, they've got an even better scrambler than they did the last time we came.'

'That's alright pal, let's go visit Bonnie on the Semi.' He said and they drove to meet the FLAG semi. However on the way Devon called them. 'Yo Devon!'

'Hello Michael.' He smiled.

'Why'd you call? If you'd waited a few more minutes we could have talked face to face.'

'I that's why I called I won't be there to meet you as I have other business to attend to, so it will just be Bonnie.'

'Alright, I'll talk to you later.' Michael said and Devon disappeared from the screen. About five minutes later KITT drove into the back of the Semi and Michael got out to see Bonnie waiting for them.

'Hello Bonnie, we need your help to unscramble a phone call that Armand received.' Michael greeted.

'Why does this sound familiar?' She asked sarcastically.

'I don't know, maybe it's because this has happened before.' He joked.

'Yes, which is why it shouldn't be happening again.' She said coldly.

'I promised Tonie that it won't happen again and I intend to make sure I keep that promise.'

**Tell me me what you think should happen next!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer I don't own Knight Rider I just love it!**

Ashley had been enjoying her first day at the new school and before she knew it lunch time had come, she had spent recess getting to know the girls on her table and she was sad that they were all busy with co-curricula activities except for Chloe who was now sitting with her near the classroom wall eating their food. Just when she thought she was going to be accepted here a group of older boys walked up to them.

'Hi.' Chloe gulped.

'Hi.' Ashley said nervously looking up at the boys who were at least a head taller than her and twice the size now that she was sitting down.

'You must be the new girl, what's your name?' The leader asked, he had short black hair and beetle black eyes to match.

'Ashley.' She replied quietly.

'What about your last name, dummy?'

'Knight.' She said proudly, all the boys laughed.

'Knight? A scared little girl like you? That's hilarious, how did you ever get a last name like that?'

'Because it's my fathers last name!' She said angrily standing up, while failing to notice the scared look on Chloe's face.

'Yeah?'

'Yeah!'

'Strange, from what I heard you're an orphan.' He sneered. Ashley's eyes widened, how did he know she had been an orphan? She hadn't told anyone except Michael, Bonnie, Devon and KITT. 'That's right isn't it? Little orphan girl, you probably had to make up your own name because no one cared enough to give you one.'

'That's not true!'

'Really? I bet your parents gave you up because they didn't want you when they saw how pathetic you are.'

'Leaver her alone!' Chloe demanded, but they ignored her and she ran to get her teacher.

'Stay out of it blondie! This is between us and the wimp who's parents thought she was too much of a freak to call their own.'

'How would you know?' Ashley asked growling before she hit him. He then retaliated and pushed her over and she hit her back against the wall.

'That's how I know.' He said shoving her down so she hit the ground with a thud and the boys left. Ashley stayed like that with tears in her eyes and started gently rocking back and forth until Chloe came back with Miss Avery.

'Ashley are you alright?' Miss Avery asked concerned. Ashley didn't even realise she was there, she was in her own world where she was back with the Pitfields listening to their threats and swearing, feeling the beatings she had before Michael had (in her opinion) saved her. Miss Avery managed to get her to Snape out of it and she called Michael to take her home early.

Once he arrived Miss Avery explained to him what Chloe told her about the older boys and that she should probably go home where she could relax. Michael was furious, he wanted to know who would say such nasty things to his daughter who had nothing to deserve their unkindness. Miss Avery promised that the boys would be punished for their actions and Michael brought Ashley home in KITT.

'Are you ok?' He asked embracing her tightly. She nodded and buried her head in his chest and he soon felt her warm tears soak his shirt. Then he brought her back to the car park and helped her get in KITT.

'What's wrong with Ashley?' KITT asked.

'A group of bullies, I'll explain more later pal, for now just get us back to the mansion I think Ashley needs a good night sleep.' Michael said and they drove off.

'So what happened?'

'They started teasing her about her last name and somehow they managed to find out that she used to be an orphan and starting telling her that no one loved her or cared about her.'

'That's a lie, we love her.' KITT said kindly.

'That's right and I just hope she knows that.'

Ashley fell asleep in the passenger seat as they drove, KITT agreed that after the events of the day they young girl needed some sleep so he played some calming music and it worked like a charm along the with the motion of the car. It was only two in the afternoon, but it was obvious just how tired the nine year old had been as only ten minutes down the road she could barely keep her eyes open. Other than the music KITT was playing the majority of the half hour drive was done in silence. When they got back to the mansion Michael carried her inside where Bonnie and Devon were surprised to see them home so early.

'Michael why did you bring her-'

'Shh.' Michael cut Devon off. 'She needs her sleep, it hasn't been a very good afternoon for her.' He explained, encouraging the two of them to lower their voices.

'Maybe you should take her up to bed so she can have a good nap.' Bonnie suggested. Michael shook his head.

'After what her teacher told me I don't want her to wake up and get scared because she is alone.' He said as he walked into the lounge room and sat on one of the lounges. He laid her out on his lap and let her sleep as he told the others what had happened.

'How did they find out that she was an orphan?' Bonnie asked confused.

'I might have mentioned it to the principal.' Devon said sadly.

'Devon! How could you tell them something like that, when you know she keeps it a secret?' Michael had to restrain himself from shouting so as not to wake the sleeping child.

'I thought it would be necessary so things like this wouldn't happen.' He said quietly.

'Now it's probably been around the entire school.' Michael growled internally, he knew his friend was only trying to help, but he wished he hadn't told anyone about that.

'I am truly sorry, Michael.'

'It's ok, it wasn't your fault. Anyway, I think that after this we don't tell anyone about her past unless it's absolutely essential.'

'I agree.' Bonnie nodded. Then a stirring on Michael's lap told them that Ashley was waking up, instead however she rolled over and snuggled into Michael. Bonnie noticed a fatherly glow radiating from Michael as he looked down at his daughter, smiling.

Although she would never admit it to anyone but herself, Bonnie knew she was jealous of whoever had possessed Michael's love and affection enough to have a daughter with him and as much as she knew it would never happen she wished that he would show her that affection.

She had been in love with him for many years now and she was still yet to make a move on him, the reason for this of course was the same every time she thought about it: does he feel the same way? Until she found this out she was never going to risk embarrassing herself so she forced herself to forget it.

Michael noticed Bonnie looking at him and he saw her beautiful brown eyes watching him and Ashley, he loved her and it was clear she liked Ashley. The two of them seemed similar in several ways; Bonnie loved learning, which was one of the many reasons Michael found her attractive and it was obvious Ashley enjoyed learning new things too.

They obviously got on well together from what he had seen over the past month and a bit, so he made up his mind and he was going to ask her out, but first he had to find out if she felt the same way as he did so he decided to wait a while.

Several hours later Ashley woke and she looked up at Michael who smiled and gently ran his fingers through her hair. She knew that those boys at the school had been lying, he loved her and he would never abandon her.

'Good afternoon.' He said quietly.

'Hello.' She replied. 'Sorry for going to sleep.'

'That's alright you deserve it because from what I heard you've had a pretty long day.' He assured her.

'I guess you could say that.' She yawned. 'What time is it?'

'Seven o'clock.' He replied tired.

'Oh ok.' She said and she once again fell asleep on Michael's lap, this time however he took her upstairs and put her to bed. He then said goodnight to the others, including KITT and went to go to sleep in his own bed.

**Please tell me what you think should happen next, remember the more reviews I get the faster I can update!**


	9. Any Ideas?

**Hey guys HermioneLeiaRide here, thank you for all your great reviews I'm so glad you like my story! I promise to continue the story, however I have come to a stand still in my writing and I figured what better way to find out what you think should happen next? So either write a review or PM me and tell what you want in the next few chapters of The Knight is Still Young! :D**


	10. Chapter 9

**I want to say a special thank you to KITTKNIGHT and heyknight for all their reviews and helping me with this chapter, now enjoy!**

The next morning came quickly and Ashley was no longer looking forward to going back to school in case those bullies found her again. However she managed to pluck up the courage and she went, but Michael was worried. He knew that she was sensitive especially when it came to her past and he hoped those boys who had upset her the day before had been punished. He sighed as he watched her walk through the front gate, he just hoped today would be better for her.

When she got to her classroom Miss Avery pulled her aside and asked her if she was ok after yesterday. Ashley nodded to her teacher and rejoined her class as they went in and sat down, from thee the day went just as it did the day before with he exception that no one came to bother the girls at lunch. So when Michael came to pick her up at three o'clock that afternoon he was pleased to see that she was happy and she talked about how good her day had been all they way back to the mansion.

Weeks later and things were going great, despite Devon not approving of Bonnie taking breaks in her work to help Ashley with her homework. In the afternoons when Michael and KITT came to pick Ashley up they began to learn that she really loved school as she was constantly talking about her knew friends and the work they were doing.

'We've started doing new maths now and I got a star sticker for getting all the questions right.' She beamed proudly.

'That's great sweetheart, you'll have to tell Bonnie and Devon when we get home.'

'Yeah.' She nodded enthusiastically.

'You did very well Ashley.' KITT commented.

'Thanks KITT.'

KITT had begun to see Ashley as a younger sister and he was happy that she was having a better time with school now. He enjoyed having her around and taking her on short car rides to and from school, in fact he was starting to look forward to it. When they got back Ashley told Bonnie and Devon what she had done and they were very proud of their friends offspring, but neither of them were as proud as Michael who was disappointed that he had to leave again to do more work on the case.

The day however KITT was disappointed as Bonnie was going to pick Ashley up instead and he wouldn't get to see the nine year old until she arrived home at the mansion. Devon had suggested that it would look suspicious if Michael and KITT were always going to pick Ashley up.

So that afternoon Bonnie drove over to pick her up and was surprised to see Ashley running around with a group of boys that looked to be her own age. She ran up to Bonnie grinning before turning around and waving to them as they waved back from beside their mothers. She watched for a moment as their mothers hugged them and the other girls and she felt something she hadn't felt before. It was like a sad, almost angry sort of feeling and then she realised what it was: she was jealous.

She was jealous that she didn't have a mother, instead she had Michael and while she loved him she had never been able to pluck up the courage to call him Father or Dad. So she sighed as she climbed into Bonnie's car and put her seatbelt on, Bonnie smiled and asked her about her day so the two of them talked for the whole drive back to the mansion, but Ashley wasn't really concentrating. Her mind was wondering about who her real mother was and she thought of a way she might be able to find out.

When they got home she went to Devon's office and knocked on the door, she stood awkwardly in the doorway as Devon looked up from his work and smiled at her. She shifted nervously on her feet until he gestured for her to come in and she walked up to his desk.

'Hello Ashley what can I do for you?' He asked.

'I-I was wondering...if you could help me with something.'

'Oh and what would that be?' He asked slightly suspicious considering what her father was like.

'I want you to find out who my mother is.' She said strongly. 'Uh, please.' She added. Devon stared at her surprised; out of all the things he had expected her to ask this wasn't one of them. He was about to say that there was no way he'd be able to when he noticed the look in her eyes; they showed the sadness that only a girl who never knew her mother could show and being the man he was he nodded sighing.

'I will try.'

'Thank you Mr Miles.' She grinned and she ran around the side of his desk and hugged him using all her strength. 'This means a lot to me.' She whispered then she ran from the room and went upstairs to do some reading.

Devon watched the door she had just run out of, he didn't want to disappoint the girl, but he knew that finding her real mother would be a very long shot and even then that was no guarantee that her real mother would want to be in her life.

He had also noticed that Michael and Bonnie had grown closer since Ashley had entered their lives as well as his ow and he knew that they felt something more for each other than they were letting on and he hoped they might get together. He knew that would help Ashley as well his coworkers, Michael deserved someone special after what happened to Miss Stephanie Mason, Bonnie needed someone to help her lighten up occasionally and protect her and Ashley deserved a proper family.

However he knew he couldn't tell Michael what she had asked him to do as the younger man had told him that he wanted to continue on with his life rather than chasing ghosts of the past. So he decided he would do the task secretly and keep it between himself and Ashley as to what she had asked him to do.

Meanwhile Jennifer was talking with her fiancé about making a surprise visit to the mansion to see all her friends and she was excited to meet her long lost niece. However Samuel had expressed no interest in going, at least not until she mentioned Michael's daughter, then he was interested.

'I'm sure she's gorgeous and from what Devon's told me over the phone she's only nine years old. Devon's says she's going to school now and from what ov Heard she absolutely loves it.' Jennifer smiled sweetly.

'I'm sure, but is she and your brother close?' Samuel asked.

'I believe so, why?'

'I was just wondering, now if you want to go over and see them go.'

'What about you?'

'I'll catch up with you later.'

'Ok, bye honey.'

'See you later sweetheart.' He replied then after he watched her leave he went straight over to the phone and started dialling.

At that very moment Michael and KITT had once again located the chameleon and blown his cover, however he got away before they could catch him. Michael was furious with himself at not being able to put him behind bars once and for all.

'Urgh!' Michael slammed his hands down on KITT's steering wheel.

'I'm sorry Michael.' KITT apologised.

'It's not your fault pal, why don't we head back to our friend Armand and see if he can help us with our little pest problem.'

The chameleon once, he had escaped, went to his own hideout as he had a few phone calls to make about how to shut Michael Knight down permanently. However when he got inside the phone was already ringing so he answered it.

'Yes?'

'I might have found our Knights weakness.' The voice said over the phone.

'Good, what is it?'

'He has a daughter.'

'Well well well, he turned mine against me I thinks only fair if we repay the complement, don't you?' He smiled evilly.

**Hey guys tell me what you think!**


	11. Chapter 10

**Hey guys thanks for the great reviews!**

**KITTKNIGHT - I like your ideas, they're great thanks.**

**heyknight - I'm glad you like it and indeed Jennifer has gotten them in pretty deep, especially once you read this chapter.**

**KR-FAN - I like those ideas and I'll be sure to at least include one of them in my story as it goes on.**

**Now please enjoy!**

Ashley was lying on her stomach on her large comfy bed trying to do her homework by reading the book they were given and wright down the main characters in it when the door bell rang. She heard someone go get the door and people were talking so she snuck down the stairs to see who it was. She saw Devon talking with a brunette, they were smiling and laughing about something and Devon called for Bonnie saying that "Jennifer" had come to pay a visit. Curious Ashley went to see just who this Jennifer was.

When she walked in Jennifer stared at her, Devon was right she looked so much like Michael and yet there were a few features that she must have gotten from her mother because they weren't like her brothers. She definitely had his eyes, but her nose wasn't his and neither was her hair, still she was beautiful. Jennifer walked over and introduced herself, Ashley was nervous around her Aunt even though she seemed nice.

'Hello, I'm Jennifer.'

'Hi.' Ashley shifted uncomfortably, she really wished Michael was there.

'What's your name?'

'Ashley.'

'Well it's nice to meet you Ashley, I'm Michael's sister.'

'So you're my aunt.'

'That's right.' She nodded smiling.

'Well Ashley why don't you go into the lounge room and we'll meet you in there in just a moment.' Devon suggested.

'Ok Mr Miles.' She nodded and went to do as she was told. Then Devon turned to Jennifer as she watched the young girl leave.

'What do you think of her?' He asked.

'Oh Devon she's so cute! Although she's not exactly what I pictured the daughter of Michael Knight to be like.'

'Trust me Jennifer, she's more like him than either of them know. Now I think I'll call Michael and let him no that you're here.'

'Alright, I'll go spend some quality time with my niece.' Jennifer smiled and the two went their separate ways. Devon went to his office to call Michael and tell him that they had a visitor.

'Yo Devon!' Michael greeted as his face came up on Devon's monitor.

'Hello Michael, I just called to let you know that we have a visitor here at the mansion who would like to see you.'

'Oh? Well who is it?' Michael asked curious.

'A certain sister of yours.'

'Jennifer.' He smiled. 'We're on our way.' Then he ended the call and Devon went to see how the girls were doing. He was happy to see that Bonnie had joined them and the three girls were now talking and laughing with each other.

'I'm glad to see you're all getting along.' He said as he walked.

'You never told me how funny my niece is.' Jennifer said giggling.

'Yes, one of the many traits she gets from her father.' He smiled sitting down with them.

'So how old are you Ashley?' Jennifer asked.

'Nine years old and turning ten in June.' She replied.

'You never told me your birthday was in June.' Bonnie said surprised.

'I didn't think it was important.' She shrugged.

'Of course it's important, we want to celebrate your birthday.' Bonnie smiled.

Then they heard doors opening and shutting so she raced off to see who it was, she skidded to a stop when she got to the front door and saw a stranger standing there staring back at her. He looked down on her with distain like everyone used to do before she moved into the mansion and she cowered slightly. She jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder and she looked up to see Michael smiling down at her before glaring at the other man.

'Michael!' She turned and gripped his waist in a hug.

'Hey Ashley. Hello Tesler.' Michael said. 'What brings you here?'

'My fiancé is here.' He replied casually.

'Oh, come in then.' Michael said and he brought him into the lounge room where Ashley said the others were talking. They paused in their conversation and looked to the two men, Jennifer got up and walked over to Tesler.

'Hello Sam, I'm glad you decided to join us.'

'Wouldn't miss it.' He smiled.

'Everyone, this is my fiancé Samuel Tesler. Sam this is Devon Miles, Bonnie Barstow and of course Ashley.'

'Hi.' He said.

'Hello.' Devon greeted.

'Nice to meet you.' Bonnie said. Ashley stayed silent.

'What about you little girl, aren't you going to say anything?' Tesler asked Ashley.

'Hi.' She mumbled, then she left and went back upstairs. On the way she heard them start talking.

'So how long have to two of you been engaged?' Bonnie asked.

'Almost a month.' Jennifer replied.

'Yep, my little sister's all grown up.' Michael joked.

Ashley didn't want to be near that guy, something about him didn't sit well with her and she could tell he was bad news. Her Aunty on the other hand was great; she was kind and caring and Ashley liked her.

Once she had returned to doing her homework Ashley became oblivious to the world around her, she read the book and wrote down her notes for hours, she was determined to make Michael proud of her, until she realised just how thirsty she had become so she put down her things and went to go and get a drink. As she was about to go into the large kitchen she heard someone talking so she waited and listened to what they were saying.

'Yes she's here and she's as dumb as he is.' It was a mans voice, but it wasn't Michael's or Devon's which meant it had to be Tesler which made her even more curious to listen in. 'It'll be easy, Knight's the only protection.' He stopped and she couldn't hear who was on the other end of the phone. 'I told you I don't wanna be the one to do it, as far as anyone knows I'm clean.' He stopped again. 'Fine I'll do it, but the this had better be worth it.' Then he hung up and was about to leave the kitchen so Ashley ran to tell Michael, but she knocked over a pot and Telser heard it.

He knew she had just heard everything that had been said and if she told anyone their plan would be ruined so he chased after her. He was hot on her heels as he scrambled to grab her. She had the advantage of knowing the layout of the mansion and she was quick too, she screamed for Michael, but He footing slipped as she dashed around a corner and Tesler grabbed her. He picked her up and pulled a gun out of his jacket holding it too her head.

**Hey guys don't forg to tell me what you think, how I can improve and be sure to tell me what else you want me to add.**


	12. Chapter 11

**Thanks everyone for the great reviews, I'm so happy that you like the story!**

**KR-FAN - I'm glad that you like it and you'll just have to wait and see, however it will be a little while before I include the one I've chosen in the story.**

**BuckleWinner - I love those ideas and I'll be sure to add them in.**

**My-Friend-Kitt - I'm so happy that you enjoy my story and I love your ideas so much that I was already going to include one of them, I'll let you find out which one and I do like the other idea too and I'll be sure to add it in soon.**

**For now enjoy everyone!**

Michael heard the scream and instantly got to his feet, he sprinted out into the hall just in time to see Tesler haul her up off the floor and put the gun to her head. He felt his stomach drop as she shook and whimpered in fear.

'It was you, I knew it; you're helping the Chameleon.' Michael said justified then Bonnie, Devon and Jennifer saw what was happening. Bonnie gasped, Devon stood shocked and Jennifer started to run towards Tesler when he stopped her.

'Anyone takes another step towards me and she dies.' He said menacingly.

'Sam why?' Jennifer asked.

'For the money, the Chameleon is paying me big for this.'

'What about us? I thought you loved me.'

'I never loved you, I loved your money and I loved that you were the sister of Michael Knight.' He sneered.

'Michael help me.' Ashley whispered.

'Tesler put the gun down.' Michael commanded.

'Not a chance Knight, I have a delivery to make and I intend to for fill it.' He said then he picked Ashley up and threw her over his shoulder. He pointed the gun at the others and started to back away. 'Don't try to follow me Knight or your precious little girl is going to be shot.' He threatened then he turned and ran. Devon instantly called security who showed up only seconds later and started shooting at Tesler.

'No!' Bonnie said. 'They could shoot Ashley accidentally.' So they went after him.

Tesler managed to get out the front door even with security on his tail. Michael ran after them as Ashley kicked and struggled to work her way out of the mans grip and she panicked as he headed to his car. She screamed for Michael to help her, while Michael called KITT to meet him out the front and he watched as she was thrown kicking and screaming into the back of his car.

KITT came to a screeching halt in front of the mansion and Michael climbed inside, then they chased after them determined to get the young girl back. Michael had his foot pressed down on the accelerator and KITT drove as fast as he could, trying to keep up with the other car as it raced around corners and sped down streets with its tires howling I all the way, but eventually he couldn't pick the car up on his scanners anymore, they had gotten out of range.

'Come on pal faster!' Michael urged.

'I'm sorry Michael I can't pick him up on my scanner.' KITT said sadly. He was expecting Michael to throw his hand down on his steering wheel in frustration and anger, but instead the young man put his hands over his face for a moment then removed them to reveal tears slowly running down his cheeks

'We've got to find her KITT, we've got to.' He quietly, his voice raw with emotion.

Meanwhile Ashley was siting in the back of the car, they were now driving on a small dusty old road in the middle of nowhere. She was trying to think of a way out, she had tried to thump and kick the driver but she wasn't strong enough to take on the fully grown man, however she knew that if she was taken to this guy there's a very big chance she might not get back to Michael or at least not alive. So she came up with an idea of how to escape, she waited until Tesler wasn't paying any attention to her then she climbed into the front seat.

'What are you doing?'

'Well if I'm going to be kidnapped I might as well do it comfortably.' She replied.

'Fine, but don't get any ideas.' He snapped.

'I won't.' She replied. Then she waited about ten minutes down the abandoned road and she quickly opened the door and threw herself out of the moving car.

'Hey!' Tesler yelled in surprise.

She cried out as she hit the dusty ground, she tumbled head over heel, banging her back on the tough ground and screaming internally as she felt her arm snap like a twig. She eventually stopped hitting her head on the ground. Her vision went blurry and she felt a harsh stinging from somewhere on her leg, then her eyes rolled back into her head and she passed out.

As far as Tesler was concerned she was dead, he knew he would have to explain to the Chameleon the fact that she had committed suicide, but he honestly didn't care whether she was dead or not because even if she wasn't she would be soon. No one could survive jumping out of a car that had been going at sixty five miles an hour, so he just kept driving.

Michael and KITT had gone back to the FLAG mansion trying to figure out how to find her and get her back, but so far no one had been able to come up with anything. Michael had been trying to get Devon to pull some strings and get someone else to help them look for Ashley, while Bonnie was trying to increase KITT's scanner range.

To make things worse Devon hadn't found anything on who Ashley's real mother was and he had no idea how to find the little girl. So they were shocked when a call came through about a young girl with chestnut brown hair and bright blue eyes had been found unconscious not to far from the side of a road with a broken right arm, a large gash on her left leg and her head had been split open. Michael had been called to the hospital to investigate and he was on his way there now.

'What do you think happened Michael?' KITT asked.

'I don't know pal, but let's hope it's not what I think it is.'

'Do you think it could be Ashley?'

'I think it might, but I don't like the sound of how beat up she was and it doesn't make sense; why would Tesler go through all that and then just dump her?'

'I don't know Michael.' Then he paused. 'I hope we find her and soon or I fear all my worrying is going to wear out my circuits.'

'Is that even possible?'

'Maybe although I doubt it, but it was intended to be a figure of speech much like you would say-'

'Yeah I get it, let's just hurry.'

'Michael I can feel your anxiety levels rising.'

'I'm just worried about her KITT.'

'I understand, what are you going to do if Devon turns this into another assignment?' The AI asked curious.

'I'm just going to turn it down, Ashley is my first concern and she always will be.' He replied, the AI remained quiet for several minutes thinking about what could happen to his friend if they didn't find her until he realised someone was trying to call them.

'Michael Devon is calling.' Then he flicked a few switches and the Englishman came up on the monitor.

'What's up Devon?'

'Have you been to the hospital yet?'

'No we're only three minutes away.'

'Good because I have some news on the girl.'

'What is it?'

'She's awake and she was lucid enough to tell the doctors who she is. Michael it is Ashley.'

Michael didn't know what to do, he was overjoyed that she was alive and that she had been able to escape, but at the same time he was crushed to hear how badly she had been injured.

'Is she alright?' He asked desperately.

'Her condition is stable, but the doctors are worried about the amount of blood she lost from the gash in her leg and from her head while she was unconscious.'

'Do we know who found her?'

'Yes, but I will leave that for you to discover when you get there.' He said and ended the call just as KITT was pulling into the hospital car park.

'Keep your scanner peeled.' Michael reminded him then he went inside where one of the doctors took him to Ashley's room.

She was lying on the bed with her head lying back against the over stuffed pillow, her eyes were closed and her breathing was steady. He saw that she was attached to multiple machines each one monitoring her vitals, or monitoring her blood levels etcetera and he listened the steady beeping of the machines.

He noticed just how fragile she looked with her porcelain white face, small pink lips that now held a slightly worried expression, her smooth brown hair the colour of chestnuts that framed her face. If he was honest she looked like a sleeping china doll.

'You can go in and see her Mr Knight.' The doctor let him in then left the two of them alone.

Michael went in and took her hand gently, it was warm despite how pale it was, he gently rubbed the back of his hand with his thumb and he saw her lips curl up into a smile.

'D-dad?' She asked drowsily, her eyelids started to flutter open. Michael was shocked, he had known she was his daughter for almost three months and she had never called him dad, but he was proud she finally thought of him as her dad.

'I'm here.' He said quietly and he sat in the chair that had been placed beside her bed. She turned to look at him and she smiled sleepily. 'What happened?'

'I jumped out of the car.'

'You did what?' He asked shocked.

'I jumped out of a car that was going at sixty five miles an hour.' She explained. Michael was shocked, he would never have expected her to do anything like that, but now it all made sense she didn't want to go there and Tesler must have assumed she was dead. She was very lucky that she wasn't and he was glad that luck was on their side. Ashley fell asleep not long after that and Michael had KITT call Bonnie and Devon to tell them to come to the hospital and see her.

Soon Devon and Bonnie showed up and she explained what happened to the both of them and they wee just glad she was alive, Bonnie even had a present for her.

'My own comlink.' She said amazed. After a good sleep, her drowsiness had almost completely gone and she was excited that she had been given such a cool gift.

'That's right, it's completely water proof, shatter proof and heat resistant.' Bonnie smiled putting the comlink watch on the girls wrist. It was almost identical to the one Michael wore except it was slightly smaller and had a more powerful homing beacon inside it.

'Does it really work?'

'Try it, say hi to KITT.' Bonnie suggested, so Ashley brought her left wrist to her moth and spoke into it.

'KITT?' She asked.

'Ashley, thank goodness you're alright.' The AI responded gratefully. This was really going to make things interesting.

**Remember to review and tell me what you thought and what to add!**


	13. Chapter 12

**Hey guys sorry for not updating in a while, thanks for all the reviews I'm so happy to hear that you like it.**

**heyknight - You will find out in this chapter.**

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**Now everyone enjoy!**

'So who was it that found Ashley? I'd like to thank them.' Michael asked Devon.

'Then look no further my man because the saviour is here.' Everyone looked to the door to see none other than Reginald Cornelius the third standing there smiling at them.

'RC3!' Michael said amazed.

'Hey Michael.' He smiled and walked into the small room.

'How in the world did you find her?' Michael asked standing up.

'Well I was driving my motorbike back from my vacation and I saw something few feet from the side of the road so I pulled over and there she was all banged up like she'd been hit or something then left for dead. Then I called the hospital and they came around in an ambulance to pick her up and they brought her here. What does she mean to you anyway?'

'It's a long story and believe it or not, she's my daughter.' He said glancing at her lovingly. RC3 almost choked.

'Dude how long was I gone?' He asked shocked.

'Four months to be exact, but Ashley was around long before you went on vacation, Reginald.' Devon said and he explained everything that had happened since Michael's disappearance in the middle of a case.

'Man, why didn't you guys call me and tell me all this and I would have come back to babysit.' He said smirking.

'I do not need babysitting.' Ashley grumbled to herself.

'Of course not.' Michael said quietly to her.

'Seriously though I wish you guys had told me, I mean, it's not like my vacation was that amazing.'

Ashley liked this guy he seemed pretty cool and if he was the one that had saved her she owed him big time, not that she would ever tell him of course, but there was only one problem she had no idea who he was.

'Um who are you?' She asked, the adults laughed.

'Well little lady my name is Reginald Cornelius the third, but everyone calls me RC3 or RC for short.' He explained.

'RC here drives the Semi.' Michael said.

'Now who might you be?' RC asked Ashley.

'Ashley Knight.' She replied.

'Nice to meet you.' He went over and stuck his right hand out, but Ashley couldn't was shake so he swapped hands and she shook it with her left.

'You too.'

'Thank you for helping me.'

'No sweat, I used to help clean up the backstreets of Chicago and I was known as the Street Avenger before I came to FLAG so saving people is kinda my thing, you dig?'

'Yeah.' Ashley nodded. Michael smiled at the two of them, it was nice to see they were getting along.

'I also helped Bonnie repair KITT after he was destroyed last time.' He said proudly.

'KITT was destroyed?'

'Yeah, that was the third time and every time is worse than the last.' Bonnie sighed. 'You know Michael if you keep getting KITT hurt I don't know how many more times I'll be able to fix him so you better not let anything happen to him this time because if he gets so much as a scratch I will-'

'Fix him up good as new I'm sure.' Michael cut in grinning.

'Grrrr Michael!' She growled.

'I love you too.' He smirked before leaving to go see how KITT was doing.

Bonnie didn't know what to think, she knew he was just playing around, but the way he had said it made her feel as if he actually meant it. She looked to Ashley who winked at her while no one else was looking which made Bonnie even more confused; did the nine year old know that she had feelings for Michael and if she did, did she know if Michael felt the same way?

Michael walked down through the waiting area and out the front doors into the car park where KITT had parked himself in a bay next to an old bashed up Sudan. He smiled to himself as he thought about how he had once again managed to ruffle his colleagues feathers, the two of them were always doing it to each other, but today he almost wished he hadn't. Normally they would have been laughing about it, but now he noticed just how right it felt to tell Bonnie that he loved her. In fact he wished he could tell her seriously and he swore that he would do it, he just didn't know when and with that thought in mind he started talking to his car.

'How is she Michael?' KITT asked concerned.

'She's ok pal, but you'll never guess who it was that found her and called the ambulance.'

'Who?'

'Our good friend RC3.'

'RC, but how? He was on vacation.'

'He was coming back and he saw her lying unconscious not to far from the road.'

'Thank goodness he was coming back otherwise we might not have found her so quickly.'

'Yeah I know what you mean pal.' Michael nodded. Then he spotted a familiar brunette walking towards him.

'Michael I detect someone we know coming towards us.'

'Yeah pal I see her.' He said quietly and she walked right up and stood in front of him. 'Hello Miss, have we met before?'

'Oh Michael where is she? I'm so sorry about this if I had known-'. It was Jennifer and she was incredibly distraught, mind you who could blame her after her fiancé admitted to working with a criminal and just tried to kill her niece.

'Jennifer it's ok.' He said pulling her in for a hug and she wrapped her arms around him tightly. 'It wasn't your fault, you didn't know what he was really like.'

'But I led him to Ashley.'

'Jen it's ok, come and see her.' He said and he lead her into the hospital to Ashley's room. However he was surprised to find everyone that had been in the room with her standing outside in the corridor and the door was shut. 'What's going on?'

'The nurse just told us she had to heck her and asked us to wait out here.' Devon explained. So Michael and Jennifer joined them in waiting for the nurse to finish.

Inside the room the nurse was a nice elderly woman, she had removed the bag containing blood that had been going through a drip into Ashley's arm and had put the needle into the drip instead and was pushing the clear liquid into the tube. The nurse smiled kindly at her.

'How are you feeling, dear?'

'Better than I was earlier.'

'Good, hopefully you should be alright to leave in a few days.'

'I'm looking forward to it.' She smiled. Then the nurse checked her pulse, heart rate and replaced the blood bag with a new full one. 'Thank you.'

'That's alright, I'll come again later to check on you.' Then she left and the others came in. Ashley was surprised to see her aunt amongst them and she smiled at her.

'Hello.'

'Oh thank goodness you're alright.' She hugged her, then she stepped back to survey the damage. She saw her arm then gasped as she saw the stitches in her head. 'I'm so sorry this is all my fault.' She sniffed.

'No it's not, the only people to blame are Tesler and the Chameleon.'

'But if I had known about Sam I would never-'

'But you didn't know and that's why no one could have expected you to so none of this is your fault, my dear.' Devon assured her. 'However until the Chameleon and Mr Tesler are caught and put behind bars I recommend that you stay at the mansion with us.'

'Are you sure you want me?'

'Yes of course.' Devon nodded. So she agreed.

Almost a week later Ashley was allowed to leave the hospital, she now had her right arm in a cast while sitting in a sling, her left leg was bandaged where the gash had cut through her skin and her head had seven stitches in it. She glad to be out of the hospital after not being able to do much except watch tv and play card games with either Michael or Bonnie. During the night however she would talk to KITT unless he told her not to because he was working with Michael and they were now twice as determined to catch the Chameleon before he tried anything again.

'Hey KITT.' She smiled as Michael helped her walk out into the car park where the black T-Top was waiting for them.

'Hello Ashley, I'm glad to see you up and around.' Ashley didn't have to see it to know that KITT's voice modulator was dancing happily.

'Thanks.' She said as she limped over.

'What did the doctor say about your leg?' The AI asked.

'He said not to do anything strenuous with it and it would heal in a few weeks.'

'Then you'll be back to your old self again in no time.' Michael smiled.

'I'll be glad when that happens, but until then can you stay at home with me?'

'I'm sorry sweetie, I can't.' He replied. Ashley turned to look out the window grumpily, she had hoped this accident would encourage her Dad to stay with her a little more often, when instead it just seemed to make him want to leave her alone. 'Ashley you know I want to stay at home with you, but I've got to catch this guy before he does anything else to hurt someone.'

'I know.' She sighed and continued to stare out the window at the other cars going past on the busy road.

'KITT.'

'Yes Michael?'

'It feels a bit too quiet, would you-'

'Put on some music? Certainly.' He cut in and turned on one of Michael Jackson's songs.

'Thanks pal.' He smiled while watching the road.

When they stopped at a set of lights he glanced at his daughter and smirked to himself as he saw her bopping along to the music slightly. He reached his arm over and put it around her shoulders, dragging her towards him so she put her head on his shoulder and he kissed her on the forehead.

'Thanks Dad.' She smiled.

'You're welcome.' Then she sat back up as the lights turned green and they were off again, singing and dancing in their seats all the way home.

When they were back at the mansion Bonnie and Devon were happy to have their favourite girl home. Devon let Michael spend the rest of the afternoon home with them and they played guess the first line of books. By evening Devon was winning even with Michael cheating by asking KITT for several answers. KITT had tried to help Ashley, but as much as she liked to win she refused to cheat and KITT understood that, but he'd still give her a hand every so often.

'Call me Ishmael is the first line of what book?' KITT asked joining in.

'Moby Dick by Herman Melville.' Devon answered after Michael failed to do so.

'Argh, it was right on the tip of my tongue!' Michael groaned.

'Hey KITT, what's that book about?' She asked.

'It's about a man who tries to hunt a white whale and...' He explained exactly what it was about.

So for now all is right with the world, but when you're part of FLAG and are try to juggle your time between catching criminals almost everyday with the help of a talking car and looking after a nine year old girl who knows how long that will last.


	14. Chapter 13

**Go forth and read!**

It was still another week before Michael let Ashley return to school and when she did she found out that everyone had been worried about her even Miss Avery. When they found out she was coming back they threw her a surprise welcome back party.

'Are you alright? What happened to you?' Chloe asked concerned. Devon had told her not to tell anyone what had really happened so she had to make something up.

'I was riding my bike and I fell off and rolled down the side of a rocky hill.' She shrugged.

'Ouch, I'm glad you're back though, we all missed you. Right everyone?'

'Yeah!' They cheered.

However when recess and lunch came she was sad as she had to sit on a bench and watch as the rest of the kids ran around without her. She soon became bored without her friends who were all either doing extra co curricula activities or in the toilet and despite being told not to use her comlink at school she decided to call KITT anyway, just to talk to him.

'Hey KITT.' She sighed.

'Hello Ashley, you know you really shouldn't be talking to me while you're at school.' The AI reminded her.

'I know, but I'm alone and I wanted someone to talk to.'

'I see, now Michael wouldn't like me doing this, but... What would you like to talk about?'

'Um... What's happening over there?'

'Well Bonnie thinks she might have tracked down the Chameleon and Michael is preparing to catch him, oh dear he's coming. I'm sorry Ashley, but I can't talk anymore, goodbye.'

'Bye KITT.' She said dejectedly.

Now she really was alone, her school friends were to busy to hang out with her, her teachers wee to busy for her to ask questions, she couldn't talk to Michael, Bonnie or Devon and now even KITT couldn't talk her. So she sat there staring out across the oval watching the other kids in the class until the bell went and lunch finished. Afterwards they had English next and they were talking about making sure that all sentences have a capital letter at the start and a full stop at the end. She tried to listen and ask good questions like she had before the accident, but the teacher just ignored her and paid attention to the other kids. Defeated she gave up and just sat staring at her book with all of her perfect sentences, each with perfect gramma (or at least as perfect as a nine year old could get it) and the edition of question marks where they were appropriate.

That after once school had finished she went to the car park and was surprised to see that Michael and KITT weren't in the car park waiting for her. She looked carefully at all the cars in the car park, but no where could she see her favourite black t-top. Thinking that they were probably just late she decided to wait and she stood watching as her classmates met their parents by the car and they hugged and talked about what had happened. She saw as they other young girls cuddled their mothers tightly, smiling and laughing in their arms and others doing the same to their fathers and she snapped. She got up and hobbled back into the school just to get away from the site.

She was angry, her life had been miserable from the start; born to a mother that couldn't keep her and a father that didn't even know she existed. Then given to an orphanage where she was mostly ignored in favour of kids that were sure to be adopted before being given to people who were more interested in their own self-image than caring for her. Now she had a father who said he cared about her and yet he was almost always to busy and she still had no mother. No mother to look after her while her father was busy, no mother to read her bedtime stories or tuck her in to bed.

She kicked her bag with her bad leg and cried out, both in pain and in frustration, then she sat on a bench and waited. Every minute felt like an hour as she waited on the bench and stared around the now empty courtyard, even the teachers had gone home, but she waited all the same.

By now Michael was driving KITT to Tonie's house to check up on her and make sure she was ok. When they got to the house he went inside to hear the quiet sound of music, which he assumed was one of the new songs her old band had created. He found her sitting alone at the dinning room table studying for college.

'Hi.' He greeted, smiling as she jumped and looked up at him before breathing a sigh of relief.

'Michael you gave me a heat attack.' She said smiling back at him. 'Take a seat.' So he pulled a chair out from the table and sat opposite her.

'Thanks... How have you been?' He asked concerned.

'Scared. Every time I go to sleep I wake up and expect to see he smiling sickly at me with a gun at me like the Joker from Batman.' She replied.

'I'm sorry that I let that happen, Tonie, but I promise I will get him behind bars again and-'

'And then what? He's already been sent to jail twice and he just keeps escaping!' She sobbed. Michael reached across the table and gently took her hand, then he looked her in the eye as he spoke.

'I know and I can't change what he's done, but I give you my solemn word that he will be brought to justice and you will be free of him.' She nodded through teary eyes as he got up, walked around the table and hugged her gently. 'We'll get through this.' He whispered. Then his comlink beeped. 'Not know KITT.' He said quietly.

'I'm sorry Michael, but-'. The AI pressed urgently.

'Not know.' He hissed.

Back at the school a winter wind was blowing and the shadows were stretching across the playground as the sun was headed down towards the horizon. By now Ashley had moved to sit on the curb at the front of the car park and she was trying to use her jumper to cover as much of her as possible and shield her from the bitter cold. She had tried to call KITT, but he hadn't responded and there was still no sign of her father and she had begun to wonder if he had forgotten her. No, KITT would never have forgotten her, he was like an older brother to her, after all even helped her with her homework when the others were to busy.

Now though, no one was here to help her and she knew that unless someone came to take her home she would have to spend all night at the school. The very thought of being alone on the street at night terrified her, especially with people like the Chameleon around and it was with that thought in her head that she heard a rustle in the bushes behind her.

After he had made sure that Tonie would be alright by herself Michael got back into KITT and headed for the mansion, he noticed that the sun was setting behind the trees and he decided to call Devon and see how everything was going.

'KITT, call Devon for me would you?'

'Certainly Michael, but-'

'Just call Devon.' The car did as he was instructed, but he felt apprehensive as Devon came up on his monitor along with Bonnie.

'Hello Michael.' The old Englishman smiled.

'Things have been very quiet here.'

'How's Ashley been?'

'I was about to ask you the same question.'

'Why would you ask me? Bonnie picked her up this afternoon.' He said, his stomach starting to knot with uncertainty.

'No, I didn't pick her up.' Bonnie shook her head.

'Then that means...' Devon trailed off.

'She's still there! Oh no!' He cut the call and swiftly made a U-turn, listening to KITT's tires howling and screeching as he raced towards the school.

'That's what I was trying to tell you.' KITT explained.

'I'm sorry pal, I should have listened, but right now we need to hurry. She probably thinks we're not coming.' He said and he pushed the accelerator down harder.

Minutes later they drove into the school's car park and the car's headlights bathed the scene in light and he saw the young girl sitting slumped on the curb with her school bag next to her. He saw her rocking back and forth slightly and her head was pointed down at the road, staring at something he couldn't see. He quickly got out of the car and ran over to her and kneeling down beside her he pulled her close to him in a hug and he could feel she was shivering from head to toe.

'Ashley, I'm so sorry I-'. Michael cut himself short as he heard her soft sobbing and felt her hot tears on his shirt.

'I-I t-thought you weren't coming. I-I thought you'd f-forgotten me.' She said between sobs. Michael rubbed her back just as he had done when he had brought her to FLAG and they found out that she might have been his daughter.

'I would never forget about you.' He replied holding her tighter, as if to protect her from the wind and trying to get her at least a little warmer. 'I promise you that I will never let this happen again.'

'Never?' She asked looking up at him.

'Never.' He replied leaning down a little bit more and kissing her forehead.

'Michael, he vital signs show that she is very cold and I believe she should be taken home and given a warm bath.' KITT suggested.

'Couldn't agree more, pal.' He replied and he lifted her up and carried her over the the car, who opened his door for them and Michael placed her inside. KITT turned up the heater to warm the cabin and make her feel better, he had a bad feeling that she might get a cold.

'I'm sorry Ashley, we thought that Bonnie had come to pick you up.' KITT explained.

'It's ok KITT.' She sniffed.

'It's not.' Michael said getting in. 'I was stupid for not making sure that Bonnie had picked up, instead I just assumed she did.'

'I know you didn't mean it.' She said and she snuggled into his arm as KITT drove them home.

'You know pal, if I ever ignore like I did today just remind remind me of this would you?' Michael asked.

'Yes Michael.' He replied, he knew that eventually Michael would get sick of him reminding him about this this incident, but he would do it anyway. Then he picked up a call and realised it was FLAG. 'Michael, Devon's calling.' Then Michael flipped a few switches and the monitor came to life, however it wasn't Devon's face that greeted them.

'Bonnie?' Michael asked confused.

'Hello Michael, I wanted to make sure that you picked Ashley up.' She said.

'I did.' He nodded.

'How is she?' She asked relieved.

'I'm fine.' Ashley leaned across a little and smiled at her friend.

'I'm glad to hear it.' Bonnie said relieved. 'How far away from the mansion are you?'

'About five minutes,'. KITT replied.

'Thanks KITT. See you then.' She said and she ended the call.

Bonnie then went to run a hot bath for the young girl, knowing that she would be cold tired and no doubt hungry as well. So she made sure that she would be able to have her dinner once she was dressed in her pyjamas. Indeed Autumn was preparing a very cold winter, which reminded her that Ashley's birthday was only in a couple of months and she and Michael had been trying to pin-point a day that was at least close to her real birthday.

Once Bonnie had run the bath she went back downstairs to see that Devon was working on something, she had seen him working on it a lot over the past few weeks, but he avoided her every time she asked him what it was. Cleary he didn't want anyone else to know about it and that just made her all the more curious. So when he left for a few moments to go to the bathroom she went in and started searching through all the paperwork on his desk. She was surprised to see that it was all about Ashley; about her previous foster families, they orphanage she went to, her old school, but what really shocked her was her birth certificate that had been lying amidst the other papers. The date read 14 July 1976.

Devon had discovered her real birthday, why hadn't he told anyone? Then she saw the name on the certificate Ashley Victoria Knight, Father Michael Arthur Knight, Mother... The name looked like it had been scribbled out so that it was impossible to read, but she could make out a few letters. B, e, w.

'Frustrating isn't it.' Bonnie jumped and stared at Devon who was standing in the doorway watching her.

'You nearly gave me a heart attack.' She said breathless.

'I'm sorry Bonnie, but I had a feeling you might try to find out what I was doing.' He replied walking in.

'What have you been doing?'

'Research, you see Ashley asked me to try and find out anything I could about her mother and I've been through every piece of information ever collected on the girl and this is the only clue, but as you can see it's unreadable.' He said sadly.

'Not entirely, I can pick out a few letters and maybe KITT can read it.'

'That's a good idea Bonnie, but...We can't let Michael know.' He sighed.

'Why not? He'll want to know what we've found.'

'I asked him right after we found out that Ashley was his daughter, he said he didn't want to go chasing ghosts from his past.'

'What about Ashley? Have you told her? Does she know?'

'Not yet.'

'I'll tell her when she comes home, it might cheer her up.'

'Yes, but just don't tell Michael.'

'Fine.' She sighed annoyed. Then she walked out and was happy to see Michael carrying the young girl in to the foyer and he put her down gently.

'Bonnie.' Ashley smiled and limped over.

'Ashley. Oh, I was so worried, I'm sorry it's just that I thought that Michael had-'. Bonnie rushed before being cut off.

'I know and I forgive you.' She smiled, putting her arms around the woman's waist.

'Thank you.' She said running her hands through her hair. 'Now upstairs, there's a nice hot bath with your name on it.'

'Ok.' She said and she limped over to the stairs and slowly walked up them.

Michael noticed something was upsetting Bonnie and he looked at her as she watched Ashley go, then he walked over and out his hand on her shoulder. She turned her head to look at him with her big blue eyes and he had to use all his willpower to keep himself from just leaning down and kissing her right there and then.

'Are you ok?' He asked.

'Yeah, I'm just fine.' She nodded, but she couldn't hold his eyes.

'You're not, I know you're not, so tell me what's wrong.'

'I just...I can't.' She said and she fled upstairs, leaving Michael to stare after her worried.

Bonnie locked herself in her room and sat on her queen size bed, she was appalled with herself; she now was keeping secrets from her best friend and for a moment she had wanted to stretch up and kiss Michael. She longed to feel the soft touch of his lips on her own and to freely show her affection for him, but she couldn't. Not now that she was keeping a secret from him and even if she wasn't what about Ashley? Would she approve of someone else getting together with her father? How would that affect her friendship with the little girl? Would she even want to live in the mansion with her anymore? Then there was Devon, what would he think if two of his colleagues decided to start dating and where would it lead? No there was just to much at stake, it would never happen and after all that she fell into a restless sleep.

Michael was worried for his friend, she had been a little strange lately and he hoped he hadn't done something to upset her, the last thing he would ever want was to hurt her. He walked to her room and knocked on the door, but the only response he got was a soft snore and he knew she had fallen asleep. So he decided to go and talk to Devon, he found him at his desk surrounded by a mountain of paperwork which he seemed to be putting away in his filling cabinet. He glanced at Michael and smiled as he packed away more papers.

'Hey Devon do you know what's up with Bonnie?' Michael asked.

'I haven't the faintest idea, why?' He replied.

'She was upset and when I asked why she said she couldn't tell me and she ran up to her room.' He explained.

'Hmm...' Devon knew exactly why she was upset, but of course he couldn't tell his friend that, however he had a feeling there was another reason that he didn't know about. 'I don't know Michael, perhaps she just needs a goodnight sleep, after all I think we've all been a bit stressed over the last few weeks.'

'Yeah, but something's not right. Bonnie isn't like that, there's gotta be something that she's not telling us.' He said and he headed back to the door. 'I'm going to find out what it is.' Then he disappeared into the corridor before walking out into the foyer.

She's not upset with you, you know.' He turned around and saw Jennifer standing there in her pyjamas.

'How do you know?' He asked confused.

'A woman can tell and I think Ashley's picked up on it too.'

'Then why was she upset?'

'I'm afraid I can't tell you that.' She said sneakily. Michael groaned in frustration.

'Why?'

'It's something she has to tell you herself, but I recommend not to push her into it and let me ask you how do you feel about her?' She asked. He looked at her, confusion written across his face.

'She's a friend, what more can I say?'

'Oh Michael I know you.' She waking him on the arm and dragging him into the lounge room. 'Look I know you think that no one else can see it, but let me tell you this: everyone can tell how you feel about her, even KITT knows that you like her more than you're letting on and that's saying something. The only person that's not sure is Bonnie and that's why she's upset, she doesn't know what to do and that scene in the foyer ten minutes ago freaked her out because she didn't know whether or not you were just being kind or if there was something more there now you tell me which one it was.'

Michael thought about it, everything she had said made sense, but one thing still puzzled him: did she feel the same way about him? Or was she worried about it because she didn't and she didn't want to hurt his feelings? Either way he knew he could trust his sister (she was his only family left except Ashley and the closest thing to a real sis yer he'd ever had) and he answered her honestly.

'I... I love her.' He said quietly.

'You have no idea how long Devon, KITT and I have waited for you to say that.' She smiled at him. 'Now you just have to tell Bonnie that, but of course you'll have to say it a little more like you mean it.'

'More like a lot more.' The two of them spun around to see Ashley standing about a meter behind them.

'You heard all that?' Michael asked in disbelief. She nodded casually.

'Yeah, but I won't tell her, you've gotta do that and I wouldn't wait too long either cause you're sending her nuts.' She said simply before walking out. 'Oh and by the way, I was wondering how long it was gonna take you to admit it.' Then she went up to bed, happy that her Dad had admitted that he had fallen in love.

She went into her room then got underneath her blankets, she was happy to be curling up with her teddy bear and get some rest. She held her teddy close, closed her eyes and soon she felt fast asleep.

**Should they get together or not? You Decide!**


	15. Chapter 14

**Thanks everyone for the great reviews please keep them coming because the more I get the better and faster I can write.**

**heyknight - thank you, I hope you like what I've done in this chapter, in fact I'm positive you will, but still make sure to tell me once you've read it.**

**GirlWhoLovesAni - That happen to me when I was 8-9 and I never forgot it, it freaked me out, but you know my parents came and picked me up and we were all good. I'm sure that you like this chapter and I must warn you that what happens it is pretty awesome, but my some of my writing probably isn't that good, shmeh tell me what you think!**

**Now Enjoy!**

The next morning Ashley woke early to the smell of a delicious breakfast, she rubbed her eyes and sat up stretching her arms above her head. She got out of the bed and went over to the wardrobe Ashley, unlike her father, had always been a morning person. She chose a plain teal t-shirt and a pair of black jeans, then she left her room and went downstairs barefoot. She was looking forward to seeing Bonnie and Michael after what her Dad had said last night she hoped he would tell her how he felt about her. However before she got to the kitchen she ran into Devon who asked her to come into his office.

'What is it Mr Miles?' She asked curiously, it was then that she realised that her throat was slightly sore.

'I wanted to tell you that I have done some research into your past and while I couldn't find out who your mother is I did find out when your birthday is.' He said noticing a flicker of annoyance in the girls eyes as he said he hadn't found anything. However she lit up when he said about her birthday.

'When is it?' She asked excited.

'The 14 of July.' He replied.

'Thank you, Mr Miles.' She said then she ran out to go and get her breakfast.

Devon was happy that he had pleased the little girl and at the same time he was disappointed that he hadn't been able to tell her more, but while he thought Bonnie's idea to give the paper to KITT to see if he could read it was brilliant it was also a risk that KITT might tell Michael what he was trying to do. So he let it go, at least for the moment and went to join the other in the kitchen.

When he walked in he saw that Ashley was sitting next to Jennifer with Michael and RC sitting opposite them. He was surprised that Bonnie wasn't there, she was normally an early riser and she often beat everyone else down to breakfast, he could see that Michael was worried too.

'Good morning everyone.' He said cheerfully.

'Morning Devon.' Michael smiled.

'Morning boss.' RC said.

'Good morning Devon.' Jennifer greeted.

'Good morning Mr Miles.' Ashley grinned.

'Did you tell them Ashley?' He asked.

'No, I was just about to.' The others looked at her expectantly. 'Mr Miles found out what my birthday is, the 14 of July.'

'That's great.' Michael smiled warmly at her.

The four of them then began to eat their breakfast, despite the absence of their friend, however about ten minutes after they started Bonnie walked in looking happy and refreshed. She joined them at the table and tucked into the amazing food in front of her, but Michael noticed she was avoiding him.

So that afternoon he cornered her while she was on the semi working on some stuff, as soon as he came in he noticed that she became stiff and uncomfortable, but he was determined to tell her how he felt.

'Hey Bonnie.' He said casually, even though he couldn't have been anymore nervous if he tried.

'Hi Michael.' She replied agitated and he walked over to her. 'What are you doing here?'

'I came to see how you were, why is that bad?'

'No, not at all.' She lied.

'Then why have you been trying to avoid me?'

'I don't know what you're talking about.'

'Oh come on Bonnie you might be good at a lot of things, but lying to me isn't one of them.' He said and he took hold of her hands. 'What's wrong? You can tell me.'

'But I can't.' She said quietly.

'Why?'

'I'm scared you'll hate me.'

'Oh Bonnie I could never hate you, nothing in the world could change the way I feel about you.' He said bringing her forward and wrapping his arms around her.

'How can you be so sure?' She asked. Being so close to him, she began to tear up, she just wanted to tell him everything, but she thought her heart might burst if he didn't feel the same way.

'Well...I...I...I don't know how to say this but...' He trailed off. Then he looked her in the eyes and told her what he had wanted to say for a very long time. 'I love you.' He said then he leaned down and captured her lips with his own.

Bonnie was shocked, out of all the things she thought he he would do this wasn't one of them and now she was being kissed by the man she had secretly loved for the last two years! She soon got over the shock however and she melted into the kiss, putting her arms around him. Michael had been right, her lips were as soft if not softer than he imagined and they carried the subtle flavour of cherry. When they came up for air each one of them looked at the other almost in shock of just how much how much they had wanted to do that.

'I love you so much Michael.' She whispered.

'I love you, Bonnie.' He replied then he went in for another kiss.

At the same time Ashley was sneaking out of Devon's office with her birth certificate, she had read it and saw that her mothers name had been scribbled out and she wanted to see if KITT could make it out. As soon as she was sure that no one was around to see her she sprinted to the garage and climbed into KITT.

'Hello Ashley, what's the hurry?' KITT asked.

'I need you to try and read what's written on the piece of paper, but uh... How do I show it to you?' She asked panting.

'Face your comlink to it and I will be able to take a photo of it.' He instructed her and she did as she was told. Within seconds the certificate appeared on the monitor and KITT worked to try and find out what the words had been before they were scribbled out. 'Ashley, this appears to be your birth certificate, but why has your mother's name been scribbled out?'

'I don't know, KITT, but all I really want at this stage is to find out who she is. Can you make anything out?' She asked hopeful.

'Only a few letter, nothing concrete I'm afraid.'

'What letters?'

'Well the first letter's a capital "B", there is also an "o" and an "i" on the surname there is a "t" and a "w". I'm afraid that's as much as I can tell you.' He said.

'Oh well, it's more than we had before.' She shrugged. 'Now can you spy on Dad from here?' She asked cheekily.

'Using thermal imaging I can see that both Michael and Bonnie are in the Semi.' He replied, Ashley smiled to herself. She was sure that he would have told her by now so she made sure not to look at the monitor and see what they we're doing, even KITT seemed anxious to do something else.

'What about Mr Miles?'

'Devon is in his office, but he seems to be upset about something.' The AI noticed and as the red figure appeared on the monitor Ashley noticed he was pacing and it looked like he was searching desperately for something. Then Ashley realised why; he knew the certificate was gone and no doubt given enough time he would work out who took it or worse he would ask Michael.

'Thanks KITT, now I got to go.' She said then she went to get out only to find that the doors were locked.

'Oh no you don't, I can tell you're hiding something and I want to know what it is.'

'Come on KITT, I've got to get going.'

'You stole your birth certificate from Devon, didn't you?'

'Maybe I did, that's all the more reason for you to let me go and I can give it back to him.'

'No offence Ashley, but somehow I don't think you'll do that.'

'Then what are you going to do?'

'Well, I could tell Michael and see what he thinks.' The AI suggested.

'No! Please KITT don't tell Dad, he doesn't know we found the birth certificate and I know that he doesn't want to find out who my mother is. He'll be so angry if he finds out.' She said scared that he would tell on her.

'Alright, I won't tell Michael, but I still might tell Devon.'

'KITT can't this just be our little secret I'll return it I promise.' She assured him.

'Very well, but if I find out that you didn't I will tell Devon.' He said unlocking his door.

'Thanks KITT, I won't let you down.' She said and she ran back to Devon's office and after checking that he wasn't in there she dropped the certificate back on his desk. Then she ran up to her room to read, once she had shut the door, got settled and was reading her book she heard something coming from outside so she got up and looked through the window. She saw her Dad and Bonnie coming out of the Semi, both smiling and as they walked back toward the mansion Michael put his arm around her waist.

Ashley smiled, he had definitely confessed and it was about time too. She might not have known how long they had known each other, but she knew it was long enough for them to fall in love and still have a long time before either of them would admit it. She was happy they were going to get together, not only did it make both her father and Bonnie happy, but it also meant that if they really did love each other and if they got married then she would have a mother. Finally she might have the family she had always wanted.

She walked away from the window and went to sit on the bed and finished her book, it was her favourite: Peter Pan. She was just reaching the half way point when she heard a knock on the door.

'Come in.' She said happily and the door opened to reveal Michael and Bonnie standing in the doorway. 'Hi.'

'Hello.' Michael smiled and they came in and he sat on the end of the bed.

'What's up?' She asked confused.

'I know you heard last night, but we wanted to tell you what's happened, Bonnie and I are in love and we've decided to start dating.' He explained.

'I wanted to make sure that you are ok with your Dad and I going out.' Bonnie said nervous, she knew she had to ask because if Ashley was upset with it or didn't approve then Michael wouldn't go through with it. So she just hope she didn't mind.

'Are you kidding? Of course it's ok, actually it's better than ok, it's great!' She grinned and she dragged Michael and Bonnie into a group hug. This was how it was meant to be: the three of them as a family with KITT, Devon and RC. 'Have you told Mr Miles and RC yet?'

'No, we wanted you to be the first to know.' Michael said. 'Now come on, let's go tell the others.' Then he picked her up and put her on his shoulders and the three of them walked downstairs blissfully unaware that they were being watched.

The chameleon was standing outside the gates dressed as a homeless man, watching them with binoculars. He knew that he would have to wait a little while before he made his next move, but when he did Michael Knight would pay.

**Well what do you think? Was it alright or was it completely terrible? Make sure to tell me.**


	16. Chapter 15

**Thanks for all the reviews, I'm so sorry that I haven't been able to update in a while it's just because my family and I have gone on holiday and tryin to find time to write and get the toggle to work for the internet hasn't been easy. Still here is the next chapter I hope you all like it.**

**heyknight - I'm glad you think that, as for Ashley's mum that won't be revealed for a while yet, but keep reading to find out.**

**GirlWhoLovesAni - I am unable to confirm or disprove your suspicions however I must say that is very brave of you to threaten to give up cooki for a month as I love them myself. :D. Keep,readin and all you questions will be answered.**

**BuckleWinner - I'm glad, I prom to update more often.**

**My-Friend-KITT - Thanks.**

**Decrosse - my apologies for the spelling, sometimes my spell check doesn't pick it up and I don't notice it, I will be sure to look at you fic and good ideas I will be sure to use them.**

**Guest - Thanks, I promise to update as often as possible.**

**Guest - Thank you.**

**Now on with the story!**

Baxter had the perfect plan and Knight would never suspect a thing, but even if he did, by the time it was justified it would be too late! Unfortunately he himself would not be the one to see his face when it happened as he had another man to do the dirty work, but he would have his revenge all the same. This plan of his was so ingenious that it would take a while to make sure that nothing would go wrong and he had the perfect time to execute this little plan, but it was still weeks away. The man he had chosen to complete the task was a friend of his, they had been very good friends during school and he owed him a few favours so this was right up his alley.

Monday. Normally it was one of Ashley's favourite days of the week, but not this Monday. She didn't want to go back to school after what had happened on the previous Friday. As much as she trusted her Dad and KITT she was nervous that she would get left behind at the school. Everyone had assured her that would never happen again, but she had learnt not to trust everything people say, in fact that was one of the first rules she learnt at the orphanage.

Still she did as she was told and went to school, but she didn't enjoy it as much as she normally would. The kids were great and all, they now had stopped playing games that she couldn't because of her leg and the boys on her class even defended her against the boys in the older grades that came to pick on her again.

'Look who it is, the knight in shining amour.' The leader snickered. 'You got us into a lot of trouble brat.'

'Hey leave her alone!' Aden stood up.

'Back off!'

'Go back to class!'

'You deserved what you got!' Cameron spat.

'Stay out of it you little termites, this is between us or more importantly me and the orphan loser.' He snarled. The other kids looked at each other confused; they didn't know she was an orphan, but that didn't mean they were going to let these older kids bully her.

'Go away you big slugs or we'll get Miss Avery!'

'And what's she gonna do? Make us apologise.' The boys laughed.

'I was thinking more along the lines of making you pick up every piece of litter in the senior locker rooms or I could tell Miss Griffon and let her deal with you.' Miss Avery said standing behind them.

'Hi M-Miss Avery, we'll just be going now. Goodbye.' They said and they ran.

During class thought the teachers were a different story, they hardly chose her when she put her hand up, they never answered her questions and they avoided her after classes.

'Let's do some revision on what we talked about last week, what does every sentence need to start with?' Miss Avery asked. Ashley's hand went up along with several other classmates. 'Harvey?' They all pulled their hands down.

'A capital letter.' He replied.

'That's right, what do sentences end with?' Miss Avery looked around the class. 'Rina?'

'A full stop.'

'Good, but what else can it end with?' She asked. Ashley's hand shot straight up, but Miss Avery ignored her. 'Stacie?'

'An exclamation mark or a question mark.' She replied.

'Correct. What do we use so that when someone reads a sentence they can take a breath pause for second?' Ashley knew exactly what she was going to say, but Miss Avery didn't even look at her. 'Tom?'

'Comers.' He said proudly.

'Great so we all know them, but what if I asked you to list something what would you use then?' Ashley tried again to answer, but was brushed off even though there was only one other person with their hand up. 'Ben?'

'Dot points?' He said shyly, as if it was more of a question than an answer, but all the same it was right.

'Very good Ben and because you got that right I'm going to let you have a prise, so come and see after school and I'll give it to you.' She smiled. 'That's not the only way you can list things, you can also use colons and semicolons' Then she wrote it up on the white board for the students to copy it down. Once everyone had done that Ashley put her hand up to ask a question and she saw the teacher look straight a her and she saw that she had a question and yet she just ignored her and moved on. Ashley didn't know what to think, but luckily when she went to the car park that afternoon Michael and KITT were there to greet her.

'Hey.' Michael greeted her getting out of the car.

'Hi.' She replied, Michael instantly picked up the sadness in her voice.

'What's wrong?' He asked.

'Well the teachers won't talk to me, they don't answer my questions and they don't let me answer any questions.' She said grumpily.

'That's not good, why don't we go talk to your teacher.' He suggested and he held her hand as they walked back into the school, pausing briefly to remind KITT: 'keep your scanners peeled.' They found the teacher in her classroom and when Ashley walked in with Michael she just stared at them.

'Yes? What can I do for you?' She asked.

'Hi, I'm Ashley's father we've met before.'

'I remember.' She nodded.

'Ashley's told me that you've been ignoring her during class.'

'Well Mr Knight, I do have twenty eight students in my class it is difficult for me to pay complete attention to all of them at once.' She explained.

'That excuse only works if you don't see that the student has their hand up, there was a lot of students with their hands up or you had to help a number of students.' Ashley said annoyed. Michael stared at her shocked.

'Ashley, don't be rude.' He told her off.

'Sorry.' She said quietly.

'I'm sorry as well; I did see that you raised your hand both to answer and ask questions, but I just wanted to give the other students an opportunity to show me what they've learnt and what they know. I know that you know what I've been teaching you and more, but I need to see how the rest of the class is coping and make sure that they understand everything.' She explained. 'I saw in your book that you did all the work you missed while you were away even though I didn't expect you to and I'm very proud of you for doing that and that also tells me that you are a good student and a very bright girl.' She smiled. Ashley blushed furiously, even the tips of her ears were red.

'Thank you.' She squeaked embarrassed by her teachers praise.

'Thank you for clearing that up.' Michael smiled relieved.

'You're welcome.' She replied then they went back to KITT.

'I think that teacher was right Ashley.' KITT said as they climbed in.

'Ah listening in were we?' Michael joked.

'Well I think I deserve to know how my best friends daughter is going at school.' He replied.

'You're absolutely right.' Michael nodded.

'Well thank you KITT, but you know...I've always thought of you as my older brother.' She smiled.

'Thank you Ashley, I'd like to think of you as a younger sister.' The car replied, his voice modulator dancing.

'And I thought RC was attached to his machines.' Michael said smirking.

'Hey you can't talk, after all where would Butch be without Sundance?' Ashley asked referring to how Michael and KITT always compared themselves to the characters when they talked about their partnership.

'You've got me there.' Michael grinned.

'Yeah, but if you ask me it's cool. I mean how many people can honestly say they have a talking car?'

'Not many.' Michael agreed. 'Now what homework have you got?'

'None; I finished it all.'

'Great, so you have the afternoon off I only wish I could say the same.' He sighed.

'Me too, we don't really get to hang out much.'

'Well after this case hopefully Devon might let me have some time off and we can hang out as much as we want.'

'Awesome.'

'All you have to do is catch the man of a thousand faces.' The AI said skeptical.

'We've done it before, KITT and we'll do it again.' He said strongly. Ashley stayed silent; she was worried for her Dad. After what he had tried to do to her she knew he wasn't someone to mess with, but she was confident that he would catch him and put him jail where he belonged.

As they drove up the drive way to the FLAG mansion Ashley thought she saw someone watching them, but she brushed it off thinking that it was just her imagination. She did have a pretty wild imagination as Bonnie had told her numerous times and it wasn't unusual for it to run away with itself. She got out of the car and waved to KITT and Michael as they'd rove back down the drive way to the front gate and went out again to try and catch the chameleon.

She walked into the foyer and looked around, it was completely silent which was odd considering the people that lived there. Still she dragged her bag up to her room and dropped it on the ground by her desk, she then went back downstairs to get a snack as it was her normal routine. The kitchen however was also deserted so she put her snack on hold and decided to go look for Devon, Jennifer, RC and Bonnie. She found them talking quietly in Devon's office and her instincts told her not to interrupt, but to eavesdrop instead.

'I don't know Bonnie think about the mayhem it will cause and the mess it will make.' Devon said.

'Oh come on Devon, I think it's a great idea.' Jennifer said supportively.

'I'm inclined to agree with the ladies on this one boss, she'd love it.' RC nodded.

'Maybe so, but there are so many other things, things that don't make a mess inside.' Devon tried to persuade them.

'Let's ask Michael when he comes back.' Bonnie suggested. 'Ashley's probably home by now and I'm going to go and say hi.' She said and she headed towards the door so Ashley quickly snuck away and ran into the kitchen to make her snack, hoping that they wouldn't find out that she had been listening. Although she hadn't been able to tell what they had been talking about and she was curious to know, but she let it go as Bonnie walked into the kitchen.

'Hey Ash, how was school?' She asked using the nickname Michael had given her.

'It was good.' She replied smiling.

'I'm glad to hear it, want some help with that?' She asked, Ashley nodded.

They then sat and ate their snack of Vegemite and crackers, they talked and laughed until Ashley heard a beep come from her comlink.

'KITT?' She asked.

'Ash? It's Michael.'

'Hey Dad what's up?'

'Is Bonnie there with you?'

'I'm here Michael.' Bonnie replied.

'Tell Devon the plan is motion.'

'Great, I knew we could count on you. Although I don't know Devon's completely agreeable to yet.'

'We'll bring him around.' Michael replied then he went back to driving.

'Michael what is all this about?' The AI asked confused.

'Well pal we are planning a surprise birthday party for Ashley, complete with a cake, her friends from school and a very special birthday present from FLAG.' He replied.

'Oh, but Ashley's birthday isn't for another three weeks.'

'Yes, but we need time to make sure it's special for her.'

'What have you decided to give her for a present?'

'I'm sorry pal, but that must remain secret until we give it to her at the party.'

'Even from me?' KITT asked slightly offended.

'Even from you.'

'But why?'

'We agreed that Ashley might get suspicious as things progress and she might ask you and it's just better that you don't know so she can't sense if you know.'

'Indeed she seems to have a talent for sensing things in people.'

'And I'm sure that goes for cars as well.' He said then he pulled into a park and got out. 'I'll be back soon.' Then he walked around the corner and into a shop.

KITT knew his partner didn't want to spoil Ashley's surprise, but he decided that it couldn't hurt just to see where he'd gone so he scanned the area and what he found surprised him rather greatly.

'A pet shop?' He asked himself. They're getting Ashley a pet? Oh dear; he hoped it wouldn't have to travel inside him and shed all over his seats. He'd let a stray dog hide in him a few times and it had taken a month to get the smell out of his apolstery. Listening in to Michael's conversation via his comlink his fears were confirmed Ashley was getting a pet.

'When will you come to pick it up?' The lady asked.

'The 14 of July.' He replied.

'Alrighty then, we'll have it ready for you.' Then Michael left the shop and KITT pretended he hadn't heard anything.

'Let's get going.' He said once he was sitting in KITT's comfy leather seats.

**Well guys tell me what you think.**


	17. Chapter 16

**Hey guys, remember to keep reviewing!**

Two weeks later and the plans for Ashley's birthday party were going well, things were coming together just as Michael had hoped they would. Of course the others were doing more than he was for it and lately he'd been spending less and less time with Ashley. He felt guilty and although she would never admit it he could see it was starting to affect her, he hoped he caught the Chameleon soon as he knew a lot of people would feel a lot safer once he did. Which was why he was happy when he found the Chameleon (Yay) trying to steal the upgraded version of the original Lone Eagle that he had tried to steal last time he had got out of prison (not so yay).

This one however had several upgrades that made it even more deadly; it could stay in the air for twenty minutes (almost four times as long as the previous model), it had been made bulletproof, it could now carry and fire five small nuclear missiles that were the length of a fully grown mans arm and it contained a parachute in case it failed during flight. "The Falcon" was also significantly more manuverable and faster.

Luckily KITT had been able to track him to the where house and Michael swiftly got out and went looking for him. He was thankful that The Falcon was being stored in a where house and that there were no other people that might get hurt. He pulled his pistol out of his leather jacket and crept silently around the boxes until he saw Baxter trying to take the Falcon out of its crate. Michael fired a shot that bounced off the concrete right next to Baxter's right foot, Baxter jumped and looked at Michael with hatred burning in his eyes.

'Knight.' He growled.

'Baxter.' Michael replied. 'You know this seems very familiar, the two of us in an otherwise abandoned where house with you trying to steal a weapon that once sold to the highest bidder could easily start world war 3.'

'That's right, but this time I won't be going to jail and you will die.' He replied firing his own gun. Before taking the crate and running. Michael shot at him several times and missed, ducking as he returned fire. Michael chased the criminal through the building until they were near one of the closed roller doors, he knew he had to catch him before he escaped again. The two of them weaved their way through the towering piles of crates, the bangs of the shots echoed through the building as they avoided the bullets that were whizzing past them. 'I'll be sure to tell your little girl how you died like the coward you are!'

'KITT I need you to use your sound synthesiser and start making the sound of police sirens.' Michael said quietly into his comlink, trying to ignore what the Chameleon was saying and shot at him. He jumped as a bullet hit the ground just inches from his feet before firing back at him. He watched as the other man flinched when sirens filled the air.

'I won't go back Knight!' He screamed.

'You will!' Michael replied then he aimed the gun and shot him in the leg. Baxter let out a howl and clutched his leg as Michael jumped and tackled him to the floor. Baxter tried to fight, but it was useless he wasn't really putting much strength into his struggling. In fact it almost seems like he was just pretending. 'KITT?'

'The police are here Michael.' He replied. Michael sighed satisfied that he had once again managed to catch himself a Chameleon.

'And you will never speak to my daughter.' He growled as he stared down at the man lying in front of him.

Then the police picked Baxter up off the floor and brought him to their cars before forcing him into one. After the he watched them drive away Michael got into KITT and drove back onto the road.

'Well done Michael.' KITT praised his partner.

'Thanks, but something doesn't feel right.' Michael replied.

'What do you mean?'

'Well it almost seemed like he wasn't trying.'

'Strange, but maybe he knew he was beaten.'

'Maybe.' He replied, but something still told him that it wasn't over.

'What are we doing now? Are we going to tell Tonie?' KITT asked.

'Yeah and thanks for the help back there pal.'

'You're welcome Michael.' He said as they cruised down the roads headed for Tonie's house to give her the good news.

'KITT get me Devon.'

'Right away Michael.' After several beeps Devon appeared sitting at his desk in his office as usual.

'Yo Devon! I am pleased to tell you that Baxter is now on his way back to jail and this time we need to make sure that he stays for his full sentence of life imprisonment.'

'I'm glad to hear that and I completely agree with you, have you told Miss Tonie yet?' The older Englishman asked.

'We're on our way there right now.'

'Very well Michael, I will see you when you return to the mansion.' He smiled and ended the call.

Eight minutes later the duo pulled up in Tonie's driveway and when Michael went inside he was surprised to find her with her a certain young girl that he knew very well.

'Ashley?' He asked confused.

'Hi Dad.' She smiled running over and giving him a big hug.

'What are you doing here?'

'Devon gave me the news and I brought her over.' Bonnie said walking in. 'Are you alright?' She asked concerned.

'I'm fine.' He replied hugging her briefly.

'What is it Michael?' Tonie asked.

'Your Father has been caught once and for all.' He replied.

'Thank you Michael.' She smiled brightly.

'You can forget about him as I can promise you he will never get out again.' He assured her.

'That's the best news I've heard in a long time.'

'So now can we hang out more?' Ashley asked quietly.

'You bet.' He said ruffling her hair.

'So Michael what's the story with this young one, anyway?' Tonie asked.

'I thought Bonnie would have already told you.' He replied looking to the brunette who was standing next to Tonie.

'I introduced them, but I thought I'd leave it to you to explain how she came to live with us.'

'Oh alright if I must.' He mock sighed and they all sat down and he explained everything that had happened up to this point.

'So let me get this straight, you found him in the middle of nowhere then you dragged him to your house and called the hospital.' She said looking to Ashley who nodded. 'Then you came back to thank her and her adopted father beat her then you knocked him out and brought her back to the Semi?' She asked looking to Michael this time.

'Yeah and she's been with us ever since.'

'Wow.' She shook her head grinning. 'So Michael when did you get together with someone?'

'I didn't, I don't remember ever getting together with someone.' He replied sighing. 'Or at least not until a couple of weeks ago.' He said glancing at Bonnie.

'You two are together now?' She asked amazed.

'Yeah.' Bonnie nodded.

'That's great.' She smiled.

'Yeah. Anyway, how's your band?' Michael asked changing the subject.

'They're going great and I still sing with them from time to time.'

'You sing with a band?' Ashley asked amazed.

'Yeah.' Tonie nodded.

'Awesome.' She grinned.

'It is pretty awesome, but at the moment I'm still studying to get my degree so I don't sing with them very often.'

'I'm glad you've kept up with your studies.' Michael smiled.

'Well it hasn't been easy, but it's worth it.' Then a beep sounded from Michael's comlink.

'What is it pal?' He asked.

'Don't you have some other things to be doing?' KITT reminded him.

'I have no idea what you're talking about.'

'Yes you do Michael, you're supposed to be doing something for a certain someone.'

'KITT, I'm kinda busy.'

'Bonnie can you tell Michael to get out here, please?'

'Of course KITT. Michael go out and see what your partner wants you to do.' Bonnie said pushing him out the door.

'Alright, alright I'm going!' He said as he walked over to the black t-top.

'Dare I ask?' Tonie asked smirking. Bonnie shook her head.

'What was all that about?' Ashley asked confused.

'I don't know.' Bonnie lied shrugging. She knew exactly what the AI meant; Michael was supposed to be getting his own present for Ashley because the pet was from FLAG and Bonnie, RC and Michael had agreed to each get her a small gift. Devon hadn't agreed or disagreed and if they were right he would find her something small, they all knew he wouldn't disappoint her.

'Anyway we should be going back to the Mansion, I'm sure RC will be missing us.' Bonnie said then they went out to her car and drove back to the mansion.

'She seems fun.' Ashley said casually.

'Yes, but I couldn't help notice that you seemed in awe of her when she said she was singing with a band.' Bonnie said.

'I don't know what you mean.'

'Oh come on Ashley you can tell me.'

'Tell you what?'

'You like music don't you?'

'Well... I suppose you could say that.'

'I knew it! I've seen you in your room listening to music and any daughter of Michael Knight has to at least like rock and roll.' She laughed.

'I like all kinds of music, rock and roll, rap, pop anything with the exception of opera.' She replied.

'Why didn't you tell me this sooner and I would have told Michael to introduce you to Tonie before this and who knows she might even sing for you.'

'That would be so cool.' She grinned.

'We'll see what she says.' The woman smiled at the child's eagerness while staring at the road in front of them. She was looking forward to seeing her face at the party, speaking of which she still had to wrap her present and pick out music for the party games. Devon had been reluctant to let them have the party at the mansion, but he agreed they could do it in the garden which meant that the kids would have plenty of room to run around playing games and they could swim in the oversized swimming pool.

Bonnie had almost planned the entire party herself as Devon was busy and none of the boys except for RC were really up to date with what children were into for party's so she was interested to find out what extra present Michael had got his daughter. In fact she had been pleasantly surprised to see how he had taken care of the nine year old girl, she originally didn't think he'd be very good at it, but he had done well. Still she wasn't looking forward to the teenage years especially with her cheeky attitude now.

She glanced away from the road briefly and looked at the girl beside her, she had Michael's striking blue eyes and strong jawline, even his cheeky smile, but her hair (if she was perfectly honest) was more like her own. She did feel a motherly concern for her and she loved the idea of having a daughter, but unless Michael and married her that wasn't going to happen. Still there was a lot to do for her party.

When they got back Bonnie gave RC the responsibility of babysitting Ashley or as she explained to the girl "keeping her entertained" while she got some stuff done. All of Ashley's friends had RSVP'd and they were all able to attend, not to mention their parents had each decided to bring some food for the party as they had heard about the "accident"and felt sorry for her.

Meanwhile the kids wee all going to give her presents and cards from each of them, even Miss Avery had sent her a birthday card, which Bonnie thought was very sweet of them. The guests would arrive at eleven o'clock and go home at three which Devon agreed was long enough for the kids to run around and have some fun together. She just hoped everything went smoothly.

**What do you think?**


	18. Chapter 17

**Thanks for all the great reviews guys, they really do help me keep writing faster and while I'm sorry that I haven't been very fast with my updates I promise that I will do better especially now that I'm home.**

**heyknight - I'm glad you were looking forward to reading it and yes there will be more on Bonnie and Michael's relationship soon.**

**My-Friend-KITT - Thanks.**

**Decrosse - I agree, small isn't always better and I hope you like my choice in the upcoming chapters.**

**Kittkat - Yes Devon was happy for his colleagues.**

**Well enjoy everyone!**

Finally her birthday came and Ashley couldn't care less about it, no one had ever done anything for her birthday before and she seriously doubted that anyone would do anything for this one even if they now knew the exact date. So she got dressed like she always did and went downstairs, but it was completely empty and it seemed like not even Devon was up. Her attention then turned to her comlink as she heard it emit two small beeps.

'Morning KITT.' She sighed.

'Good morning Ashley. What's wrong? You don't seem to be your usual happy self.'

'I'm alright, just a bit tired, but where is everyone?'

'I don't know.'

'Anyway I'll talk to you after.' Then she pulled her arm away from her face and walked into the dinning room where she was surprised to see Michael sitting quietly at the table waiting for her. She went and sat in the empty chair next to him and he put his arm around her pulling her until she was right up against him.

'Good morning Princess.' He greeted happily.

'Morning Daddy.' She smiled as he popped a kiss on her forehead.

'Sleep well?'

'Yeah.' She replied looking to her breakfast.

'Glad to hear it. So what do you wanna do today?'

'I-I don't know, what should we do?'

'Well that's up to you, but how about we think about it first.' Then Bonnie walked in as they started eating.

'Well hello, just started have we?' She asked.

'Yeah.' Ashley said between mouthfuls of bacon and eggs. 'How come it's so quiet?'

'I don't know, but I think Devon's still in his office working on something and if memory serves me then you still have one or two things to clear up Michael.' She said arching an eyebrow at him.

'Oh yeah, sorry Ash I completely forgot about that. Bonnie can't you-'

'Oh no Michael, just because we're together that doesn't mean I'm going to do everything for you.'

'Fine.' He replied then he muttered under his breath. 'Big meanie.' Ashley snickered, she loved seeing the two of them get into little arguments because they were always so funny and it was hilarious to watch her father pout like a five year old boy who couldn't have his way. 'What are you laughing at? Don't you still have some school work to finish?' He asked quizzically.

'No.'

'Even if you don't, once you're finished you might wanna go up to your room and finish that book you've been reading, Devon's got someone he's supposed to meeting down here and they want things to be kept quiet.'

'So it's best if I just stay out of sight and keep quiet, no problem.' She said sarcastically then she finished her last mouthful and went upstairs.

'I-I'm sorry Michael I didn't mean to upset her.' Bonnie said a little sad.

'She'll be alright, but she doesn't seem to be very excited that it's her birthday.' He noted standing.

'Well remember what she told us when we last mentioned it; no one has ever celebrated her birthday before and she probably doesn't think we will either.'

'How soon can we get things rolling?'

'Everything's set up outside, all we have to do is wait until the guests show up, but remember her present still has to picked up and brought here for her.'

'I'm on my way.' He said then he got up and went to meet KITT. Bonnie left the dinning room and went out into the garden where Devon was watching as the rest of the decorations went up.

'How's it going?' She asked.

'It seems to be progressing well, some of the children are all ready here and-.' He was cut off as two kids ran over with presents and presented them to Bonnie.

'Thanks kids, just put them over there.' She pointed to an empty table.

'Ok.' The grinned and ran off.

'They're so cute.' She smiled.

'Indeed, however they won't be going inside...Will they?' He asked uncertain.

'Only if they need to use the bathroom and they will have a parent with them and we will show the parents where the toilet is.' She replied.

'Good.' He sighed. 'Has Michael gone to get Ashley's present?'

'Yes and Ashley's in her bedroom reading so she hopefully won't discover our plan until it's time.'

'Good, I'd hate for it to be spoiled.'

'Me too.'

Up in the bedroom Ashley had become suspicious, something was wrong she just couldn't put her finger on what. She couldn't stop thinking about the way her Dad had described the attack when he caught the Chameleon and she had heard him talking to Devon saying that it seemed like he wasn't really trying to get away. It didn't feel right, there had to be something more, he had to have another plan and no doubt it would be worse than the last. Still if the others believed it was over then she wasn't going to say anything more on the issue, but that didn't stop her from being worried.

Now she placed her book down on her bed, making sure to keep the page she was on, then she put her comlink in front of her face. She was about to call KITT when she heard a car door shut out the front so she went to her window and saw a brown ute parked in the driveway. She watched as a man walked to the mansion door.

_He must be the guy Mr Miles was going to have a meeting with._ She thought. She then went back over to her bed, sat down, picked up her book and continued reading it. She was only two chapters from the end and as far as she was concerned nothing was going to keep her from finishing it or at least until Bonnie came in and asked her to come down into the garden with her. She followed downstairs and into the garden, then she watched in happiness as all her friends and family jumped out and yelled

'Surprise! Happy birthday Ashley!'

Then Michael walked over and hugged her, she hugged him back with all her might.

'Thank you Daddy.' She squealed happily.

'You're welcome, but you need to thank Bonnie and Devon too.' So she went over and thanked the other two, tears of happiness glittered in her eyes.

'And that's not all.' Bonnie said smiling. She then pulled a box from out behind her back and gave it too her. Ashley took it and opened it, her face seemed to brighten even more when she saw what was inside it. It was a gold charm bracelet with well known many Disney characters on it. Ashley put it on immediately and hugged Bonnie as hard as she could.

'Thank you.'

'You're very welcome.' Then Michael and Devon promised to give her their presents a little bit later in the day and the party began.

'Hey Freda, Cameron, Chloe, Harvey, Ben.' She smiled. 'Come on.' Ashley took her friends to show them the rest of the garden and the adults talked amongst themselves while listening to the laughing and shrieking of the kids as they saw just how big the place was.

When they came back they played limbo and unfortunately while Ashley was flexible she was also rather tall so she was out halfway through the game, but she was happy to stand and watch as her friends bent over backwards and walked under the ever lowering pole. The continued until her friend Freda was the last person left and she won the game.

'Nicely done Freda.' Ashley smiled.

'Thanks Ashley.' She smiled. 'What should we do now?'

'Well it's your party what do you wanna do?' Chloe asked.

'I hear there's treasure hidden somewhere in the garden.' Michael said cutting in.

'Treasure?' The kids looked at each other excited.

'Oh yes.' Bonnie nodded. 'You all have to work together to find it and get past the obstacles that are waiting for you.'

'What do you mean?' Freda asked.

'There will be challenges that you will have to get past in order to find the treasure.' Michael explained. 'There will be clues that you need to work out in order to find the next place and every time you work out a clue you will be one step closer to finding the treasure.'

'Each clue will be held by a special guardian of the treasure so you will have to ask them for it.' Bonnie added.

'Ok.' The kids grinned.

'Alright then good luck, now go and search the garden!' Michael commanded. The kids then followed Ashley and they ran away through the rest of the garden.

'This really was a good idea Michael.' Bonnie smiled.

'Thanks.'

'Yes well it may have been a good idea, but you could have got someone else to play the guardians of the treasure after all I'm not very good with children.' Devon tried to reason with him.

'Ok come on Devon it's only for as little while and you are great with Ashley now get out there and be the duke.' Michael and they split up and got ready to play the guardians off the treasure for when the children found them.

The kids wandered around until they found a man dressed from head to toe in black with a mask so that only his eyes could be seen, at first the children had been afraid of him, but they realised that he must be the first guardian of the treasure so they walked over to him.

'Who are you?' Ben asked.

'I am Darkfire, the best ninja who ever lived and guardian of the first secret of the golden treasure.' He replied. Despite his Japanese accent Ashley knew almost straight away that it was her Dad, but for the sake of the game she didn't say anything.

'What is the first secret to the treasure?' Chloe asked.

'Why not?' Cameron asked.

'One of you must climb to the top of that tree and find the note hidden in the branches.' He said pointing to a tree that was almost a metre and a half taller than him and it had thick gym mats all around the base of it in case someone fell.

The children huddled together and whispered amongst themselves trying to decide who would climb the tree and get the clue. Many of them either couldn't climb trees or were scared of heights so after much discussion they decided that Harvey should be the one to do it as he loved climbing and was very good at it. So they watched as he carefully scaled the tree effortlessly and began looking through the branches.

'Be careful young one.' Darkfire called up and seconds later Harvey shouted:

'I found it!'

All the children cheered as he climbed back down and Darkfire told them to read it so Ashley read it out loud so they could all hear it.

'Well done you have found the first clue now look to where you can find something blue.' She read.

'Find something blue? Where can we do that?' Ben asked.

'Hmm... Let's think, what things in the garden are blue?' Ashley suggested.

'The sky?' Harvey wondered.

'Flowers?' Freda asked.

'Paint?' Ben said.

'Wait, what about water? It's blue.' Cameron suggested.

'The pool!' The kids realised and they ran off, but Ashley paused for a second and looked back to the ninja.

'Thanks Darkfire.' She winked before running off. Michael smiled after her, this really was her perfect day and no one deserved it more than her. He then headed off to the end of the treasure hunt to meet up with the last guardian and wait for the children and the other guardians to meet them there.

While the kids ran to the pool and were surprised to see a very glamorous looking Bonnie Barstow, dressed in a long red dress with flowing sleeves and her hair was tied up in a high ponytail with her hair flowing down her back.

'What's your name?' Chloe asked.

'Rowena Allencourt, Duchess of Anen, the second guardian and secret keeper.' She said poshly.

'What do we have to do to get the clue?' Cameron asked.

'Answer my riddle.' She replied. 'However my riddle will not lead you to the next guardian, for instead it will lead you to another clue.'

'Tell us the riddle please.' Freda said.

'Very well: what you seek is black and bleak, the place is quiet so you do not speak.' She said.

'What does that mean? Do you know Ashley?'

'Well...I do know one place. Everyone follow me.' Then they ran. Ashley took them to the darkest part of the garden, it was hidden beneath many tall trees which blocked the sunlight from reaching the ground. 'We normally have to be quiet here because sometimes there are animals here and I come here to sit and watch them.'

'Ok let's split up and look.' Freda suggested. They searched the ground and the bases of the trees, under bushes and shrubs until Chloe found it tapped to the trunk of one of the trees.

'It's written on black paper.' She said.

'"The thing you seek is black and bleak" it wasn't just a reference to the place it was also talking about the note itself.' Cameron realised.

'Good work Cam.' Ashley smiled.

'Thanks.' He grinned. 'What does it say Chloe?'

'You found the clue in the dark now you must find the letter of the light. Go to the place where the sun shines brightest and the FLAG stands tall.'

'Hey flag is written in all capitals, I wonder why?' Freda pointed out.

'I know why; it stands for something which means there's only one place I could think off, but... They wouldn't put it there... Wait, I may not know where the sun shines brightest, but I think I might know what it means by "the FLAG stands tall" the only problem is that doesn't tell us where it is.' Ashley pondered.

'Is there a flag pole anywhere?' Ben asked.

'Yeah, let's go.' She said and they left.

When they go to the flag pole they were surprised to find that there was nothing there, then Ashley had a thought. She realised that the sun shines brightest where there's nothing to block it out, in other words the front yard and the drive way. She led them all there and was happy to see a regal Devon Miles standing there waiting for them.

'Hello.' Ashley smirked.

Uh...Hello children.' He smiled awkwardly. 'I am the Duke of Eston and I have your fourth and final clue.'

'What is it?' Chloe asked.

'To find the treasure that you seek, there surely is no need to shriek. For if you do I beg your pardon just go back to the start of the garden.'

'We need to go back to where the party started, come on everyone!' Ashley said happily and they ran back, while Devon took a short cut in order to beat them there. When they got back they were surprised to see all he guardians standing there waiting for them.

'Well done children, you worked together to solve our riddles and you have passed our test.' Bonnie smiled.

'As you have done this we are happy to give you the golden treasure.' Michael said and they stepped aside to reveal a treasure chest piñata.

'Wow.'

'Awesome.'

'Yay!'

'Do we get to hit it?' These were only some of the things that came out of the kids mouths.

'You will all get a hit, but as Ashley is the birthday she will have the first turn, so everyone line up behind her.' Michael said as he placed a blindfold over his daughters eyes. She was then turned around three times and given the bat. The adults had agreed that each child should have three hits before handing the bat over to the next person in line and they laughed as Ashley swung and bashed the treasure chest. Unfortunately she missed her second time, but she hit on her third then she grinned as she took the blindfold off and saw the damage she had inflicted on the piñata.

'Nice job Ash.' Cameron smiled.

'Yeah, I hope I do that well.' Freda crossed her fingers grinning.

'You did well Ashley.' Bonnie praised her. 'Just like I would picture your Dad doing it.' She teased nudging Michael.

'You're absolutely right Miss Barstow.' They turned to see the man Ashley had seen from her window earlier.

'Who are you?' Michael asked suspicious.

'A dear friend of the Chameleon, he told me to say happy birthday to the little girl for him. So happy birthday.' Then he pulled out a gun and before anyone could do anything he pulled the trigger two bangs went off and the muzzle flashed in her face blinding her for a second. Michael tried to move Ashley out of the way they all watched in horror as she let out a blood curdling scream when one bullet lodged itself in her chest and the other scraped the skin off across the right side of her face.

Things seemed to go in slow motion as Ashley fell to the ground, Michael knelt to catch her, RC and Devon raced after the man as he fled back to his car. Bonnie and Michael kneeled by Ashley as she went into shock. The people around them started to panic and went to try and flee.

'KITT?' He asked into his comlink.

'I'm here Michael what's going on?'

'A man just came in here and shot Ashley, call the hospital and get an ambulance.'

'Right away Michael.'

'D-daddy?' She asked terrified as she felt an immense burning pain near her shoulder.

'I'm here sweetie, don't worry, everything's going to be ok.' He assured her. Michael looked down at his daughter; she was bleeding badly her shirt was soaked and the right side of her face was now covered in blood up to underneath her eye and if the ambulance didn't show up soon he was likely to loose her. 'Come on Ash, stay with me.' He said holding her close. He stared at her helplessly as her breathing became irregular and her eyes dilated as they stared into nothing. He put his hands under her head to support it. 'Don't give up on me, please.'

Ashley tried to tell her Dad that she didn't want to die, but she couldn't move even though her insides were screaming in pain. The shot echoed in her mind and she could feel the blood pouring out of her and she winced as she saw the gun flash again in her mind.

Seconds later the ambulance arrived and they put her on the stretcher then took her to the hospital, the police came to deal with the guests and get their statements as to what happened and what they had seen. Michael and Bonnie went with her to the hospital in the ambulance while KITT followed swiftly along behind them monitoring the girl's vital signs the entire way and from what he could see it didn't look good.

Once they reached the hospital they got her into an operating room and removed the bullet from her chest. Her pulse was weak and her vital signs dim so when the doctor came to tell them how she was doing Michael was already expecting the worst.

'How is she?' Michael asked.

'Not good I'm afraid. She's lost a lot of blood and we don't know if she'll make it through the surgery.' The doctor replied. Michael's heart bled for his daughter and as the doctor walked away he prayed that she would make it.

'She's strong, Michael like you, she'll make it.' Bonnie assured him, even though she wasn't very sure herself.

'I hope you're right Bonnie.' He said quietly. Devon and RC met Michael and Bonnie at the hospital about half an hour later.

'What's happened? Is she gonna be ok?' RC asked.

'We don't know, last time we heard she wasn't doing so well.'

'Oh my, I hope she pulls through.' Devon said.

Michael cracked, tears came gushing down his face and he failed to hold back the sobs that now wretched his body. Bonnie embraced him and held him close, she knew what the young girl meant to him and while she knew she couldn't make things better she wanted to try and calm him down. She began to gently rock back and forth on the seat with him as he laid his head on her chest like a little boy and his mother while tears streamed down his face.

Bonnie was trying to keep herself composed, she knew Ashley was a strong like her father, but was there anyway she could manage to pull through? She could feel tears forming at the corners of her eyes and soon she was looking to Devon for support as she sobbed loudly.

Devon put his hand on her back and gently rubbed it, he knew she couldn't look to Michael for support and she wanted to stay strong for him, but even she needed help. He, like RC, was worried about his friends, now that Michael had admitted his feelings for Bonnie and was openly caring for her in a "more than friends way" that put both of them in even more danger and if someone found out that would put Bonnie in as much danger if not more than Ashley. They all knew that if Michael lost either of them he would loose it and who knows what he might try and do.

In the operating theatre everyone was stressing as they tried desperately to remove the bullet without damaging the heart or disturbing the blood flow to much. Several nurses watched as the line that monitored her heartbeat threatened to go straight and the constant beeping that told them she was still alive were starting to merge and become one. The doctor in charge carefully removed the bullet, but in doing so caused even more blood to gush out and fill the space they had been working in.

'Suction, quickly!' He instructed, but the blood wouldn't stop. 'Stitch her up!'

I can't see what I'm doing there's still too much blood.'

'More suction.' He commanded then he froze as a single drawn out beep filled the air. 'No.' He hissed as he stared at the machine for a moment then at the girls face. She was so young, she didn't deserve to die like this. So he desperately began to squeeze her heart rhythmically, hoping it would be enough to start it beating again. After several minutes nothing changed, the nurses tried to get him to leave her and told him there was nothing more anyone could have done for her.

'That's enough Sir, it's over.'

'No! Look at her she's nine years old for crying out loud, she doesn't deserve to die!' He replied.

'Please Sir, let her rest in peace!' The nurse tried to pull him away, but he shook her off and kept going.

'Her family is out there, I can't let her die!'

'None of us can do anything just leave her be!' The nurse hit him, but he just ignored her.

'There's got to something more I can do.' He said quietly to himself.

Then one of the nurses snuck out of the operating theatre and talked to Devon and told him what had happened. She tapped him on the shoulder and signalled that she wanted to talk to him in private. Devon hoped it was good news, but the look on the young girl's face said otherwise.

'What is it?' He asked quietly as they stepped away from the group.

'I'm sorry Sir, she's dead.'

**Shock horror! Tell me what you think!**


	19. Chapter 18

Devon felt his heart shatter. He knew everyone would be devastated, including himself, the little girl would be very missed and although he didn't want to admit it he could feel himself start to cry. Soon the tears were rolling steadily down his cheeks and no matter how many times he wiped them away they just kept coming.

He didn't want to tell the others so he politely asked the nurse if she or the doctor would do it. The nurse agreed to and they walked back over to them. Devon looked at his friends faces, all of them bearing red bloodshot eyes and their cheeks were stained with tears, he knew his looked just the same.

'Ashlyn Knight's family?' She asked.

'Ashley, Ashley Knight.' Michael corrected her.

'My apologies and I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but she didn't make it through the surgery. She passed away just moments ago.'

'No!' Michael wailed and he clutched Bonnie even tighter as he sobbed desperately into her shoulder. 'Why? Why?'

'What happened?' Bonnie asked shocked.

'She lost so much blood and when we removed the bullet it released more and it smothered her heart, there was nothing anyone could do, I'm sorry.' She said then she went to find the doctor and see if he was alright.

'Devon, we should get him home.' Bonnie suggested trying hide her tears as she stood up.

'Y-yes.' Devon nodded and they lead him down the halls towards the elevator.

When they got back to KITT he didn't have to ask what had happened, he could tell by their actions that the little girl wouldn't be coming home again. They let Michael go back to the mansion alone in KITT hoping that the AI might be able to offer him some comfort.

'I'm sorry Michael.' The AI said sadly.

'I-It's not your f-fault KITT.' He sniffed.

'Maybe not, but if I had of been able to call the ambulance faster maybe she wouldn't have...' He trailed off.

'It's my f-fault, I let this happen, I knew that it wasn't over yet. I should have stepped in front of her and taken it instead.'

'What if you'd been killed?'

'At least then she'd still be here.'

'Michael I understand how you must be feeling, but saying things like that isn't going to help things and I don't think I could function without you.'

'Thanks pal the feeling is mutual.' Michael smiled weakly.

'You're welcome Michael, but if I might suggest that when we get back you should go to bed and get some rest.'

'I'll try.' He sighed.

'You won't leave FLAG again will you?'

'No.' He shook his head.

'So what are we going to do now?' The car asked.

'Kill the man who did this.' Michael said darkly and he out his foot down roughly on the accelerator.

At the mansion they all turned in for an early night, but none of them slept well, each one could hear the others cry's and whimpers from inside their bedrooms. It was around midnight by the time Michael finally fell asleep in the midst of his grieving and even then Ashley plagued his dreams.

He saw her smiling and laughing, he saw her with her with him in KITT, he saw her the first time he'd met her, then he saw her with her friends at the party. She had been so happy, in fact he'd never seen her that happy before, then he saw the guy and watched him pull the trigger. He saw the flash and envisioned when he had been shot and almost killed. Her scream filled his mind.

'Ashley!' His own scream ripped through the FLAG mansion. Michael sat bolt upright in bed, gasping. He was sweating bullets and shivering in fear.

'Michael?' KITT asked through the com link, just as Bonnie opened his bedroom door with Devon standing right behind her. 'Michael are you alright? Your pulse and respiration are racing.' He asked concerned.

'Yeah, I'm ok KITT. Just a dream.' He whispered.

'Michael.' Bonnie and Devon came in.

'Are you alright?' Bonnie asked worried for her boyfriend and colleague.

'I-I saw her, s-she...' He trailed off shaking uncontrollably.

'I'll sleep here the night and take care of him, I don't like the idea of him being on his own.' Bonnie whispered to Devon. He nodded thinking that was a good idea. Then he silently left and Bonnie got into bed with Michael and put her arms around him.

'First I lost Stevie, now Ashley. I don't want to loose you too.' He said tears rolling down his cheeks.

'Shh. I'm here and I'm not going anywhere.' She soothed.

Back at the hospital the doctor looked down at the now dead child, he just couldn't accept the fact that he'd let her die. Sure he'd had had patients die before, but never one that had been as young as she was. He had managed to sew her up and stop the bleeding and in a snap decision he grabbed a defibrillator and used it on her. He winced as he saw her body convulse with no change, but he did it again and after the second try he was amazed to hear the machine begin peeping again. He had brought her back to life!

She was immediately put on the critical list and placed into intensive care with a nurse watching her unstable vital signs all throughout the night. The nurses apologised to the doctor and congratulated him on being able to revive her even after she was dead for four minutes and from what they could assume there had been no permanent damage to the brain cells.

The next day at the mansion wasn't a good one, naturally they were all broken from Ashley's death, but what made it worse was that the media had been told about the death and they had come to the mansion. The news of Ashley was everywhere, everyone wanted to know about the young girl who had been murdered in cold blood at her own birthday party. However Michael was furious!

'Get out of here! Leave us alone! Can't you see we don't want to talk about my daughter's death?!' He yelled at a reporter.

'Yes we understand sir, but if we could just have a little more information about what happened at the party-'

'JUST GET OUT!' Screaming in rage he tried to punch the reporter, but was held back by RC3!

'Don't do it, Michael! You'll only regret it later!' The younger man said as he struggled with his friend.

'No I won't!'

'That's it, I'm afraid I can't have this here, will all you reporters please leave!'

Security was then called to chase them out and once again the mansion was quiet.

Meanwhile the doctor had gone to check on Ashley, he watched as she slept peacefully in her bed, but he was surprised that her family hadn't come back to see her after the horrific incident of the day before so he asked the nurse. He soon found out why.

'Why weren't they told immediately?' He asked angrily.

'It was late and we didn't want to disturb them-'

'They should have been contacted as soon as she was placed in intensive care!'

'I'm sorry Sir.'

'Just get out of my sight.' He snapped and the nurse went to phone the Knight family.

The doctor was furious! Those poor people were no doubt devastated and all the while she had been looked after here and was alive! Still he had other patients that he needed to go and check so he left the girl to sleep.

Ashley struggled to pull herself out from the murky depths of sleep as she tried to shed the blankets of darkness that surrounded her. For a brief moment she had felt at peace with herself, but she fought to regain control. She wasn't ready to die. Then she heard beeping and if she was honest it sounded familiar.

'Dad...' She mumbled. 'Where are you? What happened?' She slurred, her eyes still closed and struggling to open. When she managed to open her eyes she looked around at the White Walls of the room and groaned, she recognised the place all to well, but when she she looked to the chair beside her bed there was no one sitting in it. 'Dad?' She asked as the heavy silence hung in the air. 'Bonnie? Mr Miles? RC?' She was completely alone and when she went to move her arm to see her wrist she gasped as a burst of pain irrupted from her left shoulder area.

It just didn't feel real, the pain did, but the events of the day before didn't. In less than five minutes she had gone from the happiest girl in the world to lying on the ground in shock with a bullet next to her heart. She growled angrily at herself for not being able to move out of the way fast enough.

It must have been around eight o'clock because she could hear the nurses starting their rounds just down the hallway. The nurse came in a few minutes later and smiled at her, it was the same one that had looked after her when she had jumped out of the car that was supposed to be taking her to the Chameleon.

'Hello dear, I was hoping I wouldn't have to see you in here again, at least not for a long time anyway.'

'Hello.' She replied glumly.

'I hear you've had a hard time the last few days.'

'Last few days?' She asked confused.

'Well yes, you've been sleeping since Saturday.'

'What day is it today?'

'Tuesday.'

'That's three days! Oh my gosh!' She was horrified. 'Where is my family?'

'I'm afraid I don't know dear, actually I'm surprised I haven't seen them come and visit you yet.'

'You mean none of them have come?' Ashley asked confused, the nurse shook her head. 'At all?'

'Not since you were in surgery, but they were very distraught.'

'I see.' She said suspicious.

'However, I just need to change your dressing and I will be on my way.' Then she helped the young girl sit up, not paying to much attention to the noises of pain the young girl was making. Once she was finished and Ashley had a new clean dressing the nurse bid her goodbye and went to finish her rounds, leaving the young girl to her own devices. However a few minutes later the doctor came in to talk to her.

'Hello.' He greeted.

'Hi.' She mumbled.

'You're a very lucky girl Miss Knight, it turns out that the bullet only just missed hitting you in the heart, but it has been taken out.'

'I had gathered that.' She replied.

'Well, that wasn't all.' He started then as he walked closer to her bed the sun reflected of his stethoscope. It flashed in Ashley face and she flinched, screwing up her eyes and her face, while trying to hold back a scream, seeing the gun flash in her mind. The doctor watched as she whimpered quietly and he swiftly took of his stethoscope and laid it on the bed.

He had been afraid of this; while he could fix her physical scars, there was nothing he could do for the mental ones. It wasn't uncommon for victims of gunshot wounds to suffer with mental scars such as anxiety, anger, flashbacks and sometimes even PTSD. For someone as young as Ashley such problems were more likely to occur, he just hooked she would be able to move on from it and he decided not to finish what he was going to say.

'Are you alright?' He asked, even though he knew she wasn't.

'Y-yeah, I'm fine.' She replied opening her eyes to look at him.

'I'll leave you in peace then.' He said and left.

'But where's my Dad?' She asked, the doctor didn't reply.


	20. Sorry!

**Hello everyone! I'm just here to say that while I know I haven't been updating this story very much... Heh like at all... I have been rather busy and while I know that is no excuse I want to assure you all that this story is far from over! ****I am also going to be doing a rewrite of some chapter whilst or most probably before continuing with the story!**

**So I hope you are all well and happy and I am looking forward to writing and fixing chapters for this story!**

**~ Lexa**


	21. Chapter 19

Ashley stayed in the hospital for two more weeks, she was taken off the critical list and was no longer in intensive care, but many of the doctors and nurses watched her to see how she was getting on and making sure she was alright.

Many of their hearts went out to her as they watched her duck and flinch when every a light flashed in her face and listen to her when she would wake up in the middle of the night screaming. While at the FLAG mansion Michael was doing the same, Bonnie was now in the habit of going to bed with him and waking up to his screams around midnight then she spent the next hour or so trying to calm him down and go back to sleep.

'Hush Michael... It's ok... I'm here...' She soothed, wrapping her arms around the now sobbing man.

Every night it was a new nightmare, a new torment and they could see it was affecting him terribly. He was changing and not for the better, he was becoming angrier and angrier everyday and he was depending on Bonnie constantly for comfort. He had become secluded often keeping things to himself more than he had before and he was staying out late with KITT like he had before Ashley had moved in with them.

Bonnie was getting more and more worried about him with each day that passed and she had this awful feeling that he was going back to his old ways and that he might be seeing someone else. She had seen him come home late and he looked slightly ruffled, she had even seen lipstick on his shirt once and it wasn't hers!

This made her upset; not only for herself, but also for Ashley. How would she cope knowing her father refused to come and see her because he thought she was dead? Even if he did go and see her what would she think about how he had changed? Especially since he was now bent on killing the man who had shot her, but Bonnie couldn't blame him for wanting revenge now that they knew it was Durant.

Ashley, however, remained unaware of what her family was going through and she was still unable to contact them as she couldn't get hold of her comlink after it was taken off her arm during surgery and they refused to give it back to her until her father came to see her and take her home. She wished there was some way she could get it back, but the only time she was allowed to leave her room was to go to the toilet or shower and unfortunately they were both fairly close to her room so she didn't get to see much of the hospital.

She planned to try and sneak out of her room and get her comlink, but she still didn't know where they had out it or if one of the doctors/nurses had it and that complicated things. So that day she had been trying to go to the bathroom a little more often and she walked slower than usual, trying to take in everything that was going on around her.

So she nearly shrieked with joy when she saw her precious comlink being out into a draw in a desk only a couple of metres from her room. So she then went back to her room ready to try and get her comlink back, then she could call KITT and ask what was going on. She'd missed hearing the AI and was looking forward to taking a ride in him again.

Just as she got back into bed the doctor came in and walked over to her bed with a slightly worried expression on his face.

'Good afternoon Miss Knight, I... I have some people from the media who want to see you.'

'What?' She asked confused.

'They want to talk to you about the shooting.'

'How did they find out about that?'

'Well-'

'Allow me to help.' The nurse came in and switched on the TV, changing it to the news where Ashley instantly recognised the reporter standing out the front of the FLAG mansion!

'This tragic occurrence happened here at the Foundation for Law and Government, as you can see behind me. Investigations are still being held as to how the shooter got past security and got into the grounds where the birthday party was being held. The police are still questioning those who were present at the part to try and find out more about the horrible turn of events while the young girl's family and friends mourn her death. I only hope that this horrible killer is brought to justice, back to you in the studio Brian.'

'And now that they've heard you're alive they want to talk to you.' The doctor added once the nods turned the TV off.

'But I can't talk to the press! Not without my family! Have they even approved of this?!'

'We are working on getting them to come and I agree that you shouldn't be made to appear on television without them, however I'm afraid the media won't wait...' Ashley then gasped as the man was then pushed aside as a camera was forced into the room!

'Hiya sweetie, how are you feeling?' The reporter asked coming in behind.

'I... I won't talk to you!' Ashley growled and hid beneath her hospital blankets. 'Doctor, Sir, can't you get them out of here?'

'I tried, but I need my superior's help, they will only listen to him!'

'Oh come on precious, everyone wants to know how you survived the shooting.'

Then something clicked in her mind, during the news report they said... She died!?

But when? How did she come back to life? Why didn't anyone tell her? All questions that now swirled endlessly around in her head, but the biggest question she had was where was her dad when she needed him?


	22. Chapter 20

The day soon passed, but it had been the doctor who had saved her from the reporters, not her dad. No Michael Knight had never shown up and the reporter had tried to make full use of that by asking questions such as was it actually her father who had shot her and his behaviour at the mansion was merely to cover it up? Ashley had refused to make comment, she knew what happened and she wasn't about to listen to some stupid reporter.

All of this had made her more determined to get her comlink back so she could ask KITT what exactly was going on. So she waited until the clock in the hall struck one in the morning, then she silently slipped out into the hall and after making sure there was no one around she went over to the desk and looked through the draws.

She hoped the rustling of papers and other objects in the draw wouldn't disturb anyone or alert them of her activities, finding nothing in that draw she moved on to the next. She smiled when she got her comlink and put it back on her wrist where it belonged.

Then quiet voices and footsteps echoed through the empty halls, knowing that she wouldn't be able to race back to her room in time she was forced to hide under the desk and wait for them to move on.

Soon the were right next to her above the desk and she had to do her best to keep calm and not breath too loud or gag from the smell of the disinfectant they used on the floors. As she sat curled up under the desk she listened to what they were say and were surprised they were talking about some poor dead patient, but the more she listened the more suspicious she became.

'Did you hear about that girl who passed away this morning?'

'Yeah, it was only an hour or so ago wasn't it?'

'That's what I heard, it's sad though because I heard they lost her on the table for a few minutes and managed to revive her.'

'I heard that too and to do all that only to have her pass away just over a month later. It's just terrible and everyone thought she was going to make it too.'

'How old was the poor girl?'

'I'm not sure, but I know she was around 9 - 10 years old.'

Ashley's heart was racing and it was thumping so loud she was surprised they couldn't hear it, who were they talking about? After all she was now ten years old, but she wasn't dead! She tried to calm herself down, there were hundreds of girls there at the hospital and they could easily have been talking about anyone of them.

'I feel sorry for her family, I mean I could hear the fathers wailing all the way down in the toilets at the end of the hallway.'

'Yes, you've got to feel sorry for them, it wouldn't be easy to lose someone so young.'

'No, but what gets me is why would a guy just randomly show up and shoot a little girl?'

'Who knows; he was probably insane or something.'

'You'd have to be to try and murder a nine year old in cold blood.'

'Yeah, anyway I've still got to go back and check on some of the young cancer patients, I'll see you in the morning.'

'Bye.'

That tore it, she was ten and had been shot, but she was not dead! As soon as they were gone she raced back into her room quietly shutting the door behind her with a click. She got back into bed and pretended to be a sleep just in time for one of the nurses to peek through the door at her and seeing that everything was alright she closed the door and left.

Ashley breathed a sigh of relief, but her mind was still whirling with questions: could they have been talking about her? Why would they think she was dead? What did they mean they lost her on the table for a few minutes? Then she remembered that someone might be able to answer those questions and more.

'KITT?' She whispered bringing the comlink to her face.

'Ashley?' The AI asked confused.

'Oh thank goodness. Hey KITT, it's me, what's going on?'

'Ashley I'm so glad you're alright, I've been trying to contact you for weeks, what happened?' He asked relieved that she was ok.

'They took my comlink when I was in surgery and I only just took it back.'

'I see, how have you been?'

'Alright I suppose.' She sighed. 'My shoulder still hurts though...'

'Of course, it will take a while to heal and I am so sorry about what happened.' The AI replied, his voice filled with remorse.

'That's ok, KITT, but where is my dad?'

'He... He's here at the mansion... Asleep, like you should be!' He replied.

'KITT, I don't want to sleep, I want to hear how my family is! I want to talk to them! I want to know why they haven't been here!'

'Things haven't been going well around here.'

'What do you mean?'

'Well...'

'KITT who are you talking to?' Michael's voice cut him off.

'Dad?' Ashley asked happily.

'KITT don't play games with me now who are you talking to?'

'It's Ashley, Michael, she's alive.'

'Wait why would you think I wasn't?' Ashley asked confused.

'Ashley? Is that really you?' He asked amazed.

'Yes Dad.'

'H-How? Oh Ashley, I thought you were gone for good.' He cried, tears of happiness ran down his cheeks and he ran to get Bonnie.

'KITT what's going on? Why is he so happy? Why didn't any of you come to visit me?'

'Well, I think Devon of Michael should be the ones to tell you that, but not at the moment, it's almost three in the morning and you need some sleep.'

'But I'm not tired.' She stifled a yawn and before KITT could insist that she was Michaels voice returned, but this time it was joined by another female voice.

'Ashley?!'

'Bonnie! Hi!'

'Oh I knew you were alright I just knew it! How are you feeling?'

'Ummm... Sore.' She replied honestly.

'Oh you poor thing, I promise that tomorrow we will all come straight over to see you and I personally will give you the biggest hug in the world!'

Somehow the young woman's promise warmed Ashley's heart and she couldn't wait to see her family again, even if they hadn't exactly been here all through this ordeal, it was obvious they had been thinking of her.

'Thank you.' She smiled.

'Oh Ashley, I am so sorry that we haven't already been to see you, it's all my fault! I-'. She cut her father off before he got too far into to his apology.

'It's ok Dad, just make sure that you come and see me tomorrow.'

'I will, I promise. In fact, we'll all go! Devon and RC included!'

'Yay! O oh!' She head someone coming. 'I'd better go, or I might get caught and they don't like it when I stay up late.'

'Ok Ash, we'll see you tomorrow.' Michael replied.

'Bye.' She then ended the conversation and ten minutes later she was fast asleep.


	23. Chapter 21

he day soon passed, but it had been the doctor who had saved her from the reporters, not her dad. No Michael Knight had never shown up and the reporter had tried to make full use of that by asking questions such as was it actually her father who had shot her and his behaviour at the mansion was merely to cover it up? Ashley had refused to make comment, she knew what happened and she wasn't about to listen to some stupid reporter.

All of this had made her more determined to get her comlink back so she could ask KITT what exactly was going on. So she waited until the clock in the hall struck one in the morning, then she silently slipped out into the hall and after making sure there was no one around she went over to the desk and looked through the draws.

She hoped the rustling of papers and other objects in the draw wouldn't disturb anyone or alert them of her activities, finding nothing in that draw she moved on to the next. She smiled when she got her comlink and put it back on her wrist where it belonged.

Then quiet voices and footsteps echoed through the empty halls, knowing that she wouldn't be able to race back to her room in time she was forced to hide under the desk and wait for them to move on.

Soon the were right next to her above the desk and she had to do her best to keep calm and not breath too loud or gag from the smell of the disinfectant they used on the floors. As she sat curled up under the desk she listened to what they were say and were surprised they were talking about some poor dead patient, but the more she listened the more suspicious she became.

'Did you hear about that girl who passed away this morning?'

'Yeah, it was only an hour or so ago wasn't it?'

'That's what I heard, it's sad though because I heard they lost her on the table for a few minutes and managed to revive her.'

'I heard that too and to do all that only to have her pass away just over a month later. It's just terrible and everyone thought she was going to make it too.'

'How old was the poor girl?'

'I'm not sure, but I know she was around 9 - 10 years old.'

Ashley's heart was racing and it was thumping so loud she was surprised they couldn't hear it, who were they talking about? After all she was now ten years old, but she wasn't dead! She tried to calm herself down, there were hundreds of girls there at the hospital and they could easily have been talking about anyone of them.

'I feel sorry for her family, I mean I could hear the fathers wailing all the way down in the toilets at the end of the hallway.'

'Yes, you've got to feel sorry for them, it wouldn't be easy to lose someone so young.'

'No, but what gets me is why would a guy just randomly show up and shoot a little girl?'

'Who knows; he was probably insane or something.'

'You'd have to be to try and murder a nine year old in cold blood.'

'Yeah, anyway I've still got to go back and check on some of the young cancer patients, I'll see you in the morning.'

'Bye.'

That tore it, she was ten and had been shot, but she was not dead! As soon as they were gone she raced back into her room quietly shutting the door behind her with a click. She got back into bed and pretended to be a sleep just in time for one of the nurses to peek through the door at her and seeing that everything was alright she closed the door and left.

Ashley breathed a sigh of relief, but her mind was still whirling with questions: could they have been talking about her? Why would they think she was dead? What did they mean they lost her on the table for a few minutes? Then she remembered that someone might be able to answer those questions and more.

'KITT?' She whispered bringing the comlink to her face.

'Ashley?' The AI asked confused.

'Oh thank goodness. Hey KITT, it's me, what's going on?'

'Ashley I'm so glad you're alright, I've been trying to contact you for weeks, what happened?' He asked relieved that she was ok.

'They took my comlink when I was in surgery and I only just took it back.'

'I see, how have you been?'

'Alright I suppose.' She sighed. 'My shoulder still hurts though...'

'Of course, it will take a while to heal and I am so sorry about what happened.' The AI replied, his voice filled with remorse.

'That's ok, KITT, but where is my dad?'

'He... He's here at the mansion... Asleep, like you should be!' He replied.

'KITT, I don't want to sleep, I want to hear how my family is! I want to talk to them! I want to know why they haven't been here!'

'Things haven't been going well around here.'

'What do you mean?'

'Well...'

'KITT who are you talking to?' Michael's voice cut him off.

'Dad?' Ashley asked happily.

'KITT don't play games with me now who are you talking to?'

'It's Ashley, Michael, she's alive.'

'Wait why would you think I wasn't?' Ashley asked confused.

'Ashley? Is that really you?' He asked amazed.

'Yes Dad.'

'H-How? Oh Ashley, I thought you were gone for good.' He cried, tears of happiness ran down his cheeks and he ran to get Bonnie.

'KITT what's going on? Why is he so happy? Why didn't any of you come to visit me?'

'Well, I think Devon of Michael should be the ones to tell you that, but not at the moment, it's almost three in the morning and you need some sleep.'

'But I'm not tired.' She stifled a yawn and before KITT could insist that she was Michaels voice returned, but this time it was joined by another female voice.

'Ashley?!'

'Bonnie! Hi!'

'Oh I knew you were alright I just knew it! How are you feeling?'

'Ummm... Sore.' She replied honestly.

'Oh you poor thing, I promise that tomorrow we will all come straight over to see you and I personally will give you the biggest hug in the world!'

Somehow the young woman's promise warmed Ashley's heart and she couldn't wait to see her family again, even if they hadn't exactly been here all through this ordeal, it was obvious they had been thinking of her.

'Thank you.' She smiled.

'Oh Ashley, I am so sorry that we haven't already been to see you, it's all my fault! I-'. She cut her father off before he got too far into to his apology.

'It's ok Dad, just make sure that you come and see me tomorrow.'

'I will, I promise. In fact, we'll all go! Devon and RC included!'

'Yay! O oh!' She head someone coming. 'I'd better go, or I might get caught and they don't like it when I stay up late.'

'Ok Ash, we'll see you tomorrow.' Michael replied.

'Bye.' She then ended the conversation and ten minutes later she was fast asleep.


	24. Chapter 22

The next morning Ashley woke up to a throbbing headache, this was not a good start to the day, but she smiled to herself as the events of the previous night flooded her mind. She was being moved closer to home and it sounded like her family might come and see her. She hadn't been so happy since her birthday. Her mood dropped when she remembered why she had been in the hospital in the first place, how could she go back knowing that someone had tried to kill her in her own home?

'Urgh.' She attempted to sit up, but she flopped back down when she got a burst of pain from where the bullet had been. She then spent the next twenty minutes lying on her back staring at the ceiling. It must have been around 8:30 as she could hear the doctors and nurses start doing their rounds and soon it was her turn.

'Hello.' She smiled.

'Hi.' Ashley replied as the nurse carefully changed her IV, the girl glared at it and her eyes slowly followed the plastic tube until it connected to the catheter which then disappeared into her arm.

'Did you sleep well?'

'Yes, I did.' She gave her a small smile, though she didn't really have such a great night sleep... Or at least not until after she had spoken to her family.

'Are you feeling any better?' The nurse then helped her put her arm back into the special shoulder sling which she had taken off to sleep. She sighed as she felt the straps go around her neck and over her good shoulder.

'Not really... My chest still aches.'

'Well that's understandable considering how much damage was done, you really are a lucky girl Miss K.' She nodded and left.

'I wouldn't be so sure.'

'Come on Devon! We need to get to the hospital!' Michael urged his boss on as they all headed to their respective vehicles in order to go and see Ashley.

'Yes Michael, I am coming you know.' The Englishman replied coming out of his office.

It's needless to say that Michael hadn't slept much at all last night, partially because the guilt of thinking his daughter was dead and refusing to go and see otherwise made him angry with himself but also because he was anxious to go and see if she was alright. So now he was in a hurry and nothing would be fast enough until they were sitting in the room talking to his daughter.

'Don't worry, visiting hours don't start for another half an hour, we'll get there in plenty of time to see Ashley.' Bonnie smiled as the two of them walked to see KITT waiting for them in the garage.

'Good morning Bonnie, Michael.' The car greeted opening his doors for them.

'Good morning KITT.' Bonnie replied happily.

'Hi pal.' Michael replied adjusting himself in the drivers seat. 'Let's get to the hospital KITT, I want to see Ashley ASAP!'

'Yes Michael!' The car then put the pedal to the medal and drove to the hospital, determined to see that Michael was reunited with his daughter quickly. So as soon as KITT parked himself in the hospital's car park Michael was out the car and into the lobby, where he was then directed to Ashley's room.

'Ashley!' He cried as he stood in the doorway to her room. He grinned as the little girl looked up and their matching ice blue eyes locked.

'Dad!'

'Oh I missed you so much precious!' He went in, but before he could embrace her he saw that her arm has been placed in a black sling of some kind. 'What...?' He asked looking at it.

'It's just a shoulder sling... Don't worry about it.' She shrugged with her good shoulder and used her arm to reach around and hug him.

'I am so sorry that I didn't come sooner, it's just I was crushed after we were told you were...' He couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence as his hold on her tightened instinctively.

'Dad, it's ok... But I don't understand what is going on. Why is everyone saying I'm dead?'

'I'm afraid you did... There for a few minutes you were...'

'What?! I... I really was dead?!'

'Yes.' Ashley looked and saw the distinguished face of Devon Miles closely accompanied by Bonnie Barstow. The young girls eyes widened and her bottom lip trembled in terror as they all nodded.

'H-how? What happened? How am I still here?'

'They were able revive you.' Bonnie explained. 'However your father was so grief stricken that he didn't believe it and we weren't allowed to visit you until he came and saw you, not to mention he tried to forbid us from going anyway, but he believed you were alive after he talked to you last night.'

'Oh so because you thought I was dead no one could come and see me, so you just left me there by myself! Great parenting strategy!'

'I thought you were dead, how was I to know that they were serious?' Michael asked.

They're professional doctors Dad, I think they'd know if someone was dead or not! That still doesn't explain why other staff at the hospital thought I was dead.'

'That's strange.' Bonnie said. 'They work there, so why would they think that when everyone else knows you're alive?'

'I'm afraid that's my doing... The board believes that Ashley should no longer stay with the Foundation and after what happened at the hospital you were announced dead to the public.'

'WHAT?! But I had the press here yesterday morning wanting to talk to me about how I survived! When did you...?!'

'Yesterday, when I was able to confirm that you are indeed alive.'

''Devon you can't be serious.' Michael said horrified.

'I am very serious.'

'Why? She's family, she belongs here!' Bonnie cried.

'Isn't there anything Jennifer can do? She's on the board.'

'Jennifer can do nothing as the other members believed her view to be a conflict of interest.'

'Devon this is crazy! I just got her back and now they want to take her away from me again!' Michael fumed.

'Michael calm down, there's got to be something we can do.' RC tried to calm his friend down.

'I don't like it either Michael, but there is nothing we can do, Ashley is to be given a new identity and she will live with a new family.' Devon said sadly.

'B-but Mr Miles, I don't want to go.'

'I'm sorry Ashley, you have no choice in the matter.' He said then he left.

'W-why? What did I do?' She asked starting to panic.

'Nothing, this is just a misunderstanding we will sort this out and you can stay with us.' Bonnie said.

'I have to talk to Jennifer, there's got to be something she can do.' Then Michael walked out angrily.


	25. Chapter 23

The next morning Ashlyn was taken home and had packed her things and was waiting out the front of the mansion with Prince for her ride to come and pick her up. She had decided that it was useless to try and argue so she was better off to just accept it and move on, besides it wasn't like she was never going to see them again they would still come to visit her once a month. She stared stone faced toward the gate as she heard footsteps come up from behind her.

'I'm sorry this is happening, Ashlyn.' She turned to see Devon standing beside her.

'No need to apologise Mr Miles, it was bound to happen eventually.' She replied. Then she heard Bonnie and RC walk up to stand next to them. 'I will miss you all, though.'

'We'll miss you too, but I have something for you before you go.' He took out a necklace from his pocket. She looked at it and smiled; it had the black FLAG symbol on it and was on a thin silver chain. 'Just something to remember us by.'

'Thank you Mr Miles.' She smiled.

'You're welcome.'

'Are you sure there's no way I can stay?'

'I only wish there was.' Devon shook his head.

'Then where's my Dad?'

'He'll be here to see you off soon.' Bonnie said.

'Not to be rude or anything, but where is my ride? I really would like to get this over with ASAP.' She said tears starting to well in her striking blue eyes.

'It shouldn't be too much longer.' RC said and he hugged her gently. 'Take care of yourself, ok?' Ashlyn nodded before hugging Bonnie, then as she let go a familiar black t-top drove around to the front.

'Ready to go?' Michael asked from inside. Ashlyn nodded surprised then she put her things in KITT's trunk and got in the passenger side. 'Goodbye!' She waved to her family as they drove down the driveway and out the gate.

'I'm really going to miss you all.' She sniffed.

'Hey, I'll still come and visit you, so will KITT and I'm sure these people will be nice.' Michael tried to cheer the two of them up.

'We'll still be able to talk over the phone or via your comlink.' KITT reminded her.

'You have a point KITT, but it just won't be the same.' She sighed. 'I mean what about my friends, what were they told?'

'Everyone that knew you were told that you passed away in the hospital.'

'Everyone?'

'Everyone.'

'So now I really have no one.'

At the mansion everyone was upset, even RC3 was bummed out, but they knew no way could change the boards mind and even though they knew they would still get to see her it didn't make them feel any better about it.

Bonnie had decided to walk to the Semi so she could surround herself in the things she loved, but on the way she passed the spot in the garden where Ashlyn had been shot; some of the blood still stained the grass and she felt more tears spring to her eyes so she hurried to get to the Semi.

When she got inside however she was surprised to RC working on his bike, which was bashed up from the last time Michael had borrowed it, she saw that his mind wasn't really on his work and she offered to make him a cup of tea from the small kitchen that was in the Semi.

'Sure, thanks Bonnie.' He gave her a weak smile and she went to make them hot drinks.

By the time she came back her friend had resorted to full on sobbing and it wasn't long she had joined in, they both knew it was going to take a long time before FLAG was the same again, if ever.

When the trio arrived at the house in California where Ashlyn would now be staying she was surprised to see her new family waiting out the front for her. There was a middle aged woman with blonde hair, she was standing next to a tall man with black hair and large oval-shaped glasses and beside them were two kids both looked to be around Ashlyn's age.

One was a girl with light brown hair and the other was a boy with blonde hair. They came over to help with her bags as the two outsiders got out of the car and Ashlyn couldn't help but notice how the other kids looked at her as though she was an alien or something. This was going to be difficult.

'You must be Mr Knight.' The woman said. 'I'm Teagan Rider, this is my husband Jackson and our children Mathew and Hailey.'

'Please call me Michael.' He replied shaking hands.

'Which makes you our new daughter Ashlyn.' She smiled.

'Hi.' Ashlyn smiled awkwardly.

'Kids why don't you take your new sister to her room and help her get settled.' Jackson suggested.

'Yes Dad.' They said and they lead Ashlyn inside.

'So, how did you know Ashlyn?' Teagan asked.

'She was in my care for a brief time after she was removed from her previous foster family.' He replied.

'Oh and why was she removed from there?' Jackson asked.

'I'm afraid I can't tell you that, for privacy reasons.'

'We understand.' He nodded, realising something must have happened.

'Is there anything we should know about her? Is she allergic to anything?' Teagan asked. Michael shook his head.

'No, but she does tend to have rather nasty nightmares.'

'Right.'

Michael thought that the parents seemed nice enough, he just hoped that his daughter would learn to get on with her new siblings. Inside Ashlyn was trying to do just that, but the others weren't making it very easy for her.

'So what's your name?' The girl asked.

'Ashley-n.' She replied remembering that her name had changed. 'Yours?'

'Our Mum just told you outside, but I suppose we shouldn't have expected you to remember them. I'm Hailey and this is my brother Mathew.'

'Nice to meet you.'

'Yes, I can imagine it would be.' Hailey replied snobbishly. 'Anyway this is your room.'

Ashlyn walked inside; it wasn't as big as her room in the mansion and the walls were painted a mouldy yellow colour and it was peeling off in places. The bed was a single with a plain white duvet and when she felt it, it was as hard as a rock.

As she looked around she noticed several spider webs in the corners of the roof and while there were no spiders to be seen, she couldn't imagine them being too far away. She knew she should have been glad that someone had been willing to look after her now that she couldn't stay in the mansion, but if she was honest even the orphanage was better looking than that.

Still she didn't really have a choice in the matter so she moved her things in and started setting up when she heard Michael call to her from outside. She ran outside to say goodbye, as she assumed that he was about to leave. Unfortunately she was right.

'A-Are you going?'

'Yeah, I've got to get back to FLAG and get to work on finding Durant.'

'Who's that?'

'I'll explain next time I see you.'

'Oh, but I don't want you to go.' She said quietly.

'I know, but I'll talk to you again soon.'

'I'll miss you.'

'I'll miss you too.' He sniffed. 'Look after yourself, alright? Remember to take care of Prince.'

'I will.' She replied glancing down and the puppy that sat beside her legs.

'Do you wanna say goodbye to KITT?' He asked, Ashlyn nodded and she said her goodbyes then the two of them drove off.

'Goodbye, Michael. Bye KITT.' She whispered. Then she went back inside her new home. She was sad and angry, but mostly heartbroken and she just wanted to go back to the mansion and live normally. However since she couldn't do that she was going to resort to lying on her bed in her new room and staring at the ceiling, but her new "brother and sister" had no intention of letting her have her privacy.

'So who was that guy that dropped you off?' Hailey asked appearing out of nowhere.

'He's just a friend.' She shrugged sadly.

'Right. What about that car? It looked pretty fancy and ooh, what's this?' She asked sharply tugging on Ashlyn's wrist and staring at her comlink.

'Ouch!' She yelled angrily. That was her bad side and pulling on her arm hurt her shoulder. 'Let go!' She stepped back.

'What's your problem? I didn't even pull it that hard.'

'Yeah well it still hurt!'

'No way, I could have pulled it way harder!'

'Uh, Hailey I think I just heard Mum call you.' Mathew said.

'Alright, I'll see you later and by the way that puppy isn't yours anymore, it's mine.' She said and walked off.

'Sorry, about my sister she isn't very nice at times. Anyway are you ok?' He asked looking at her arm.

'Y-yeah I'm fine.' She replied not meeting his eyes.

'Are you sure? You cried out pretty loud.'

'Uh yeah, I'm sure, but thanks Mathew.'

'That's alright, A-Ashlyn?'

'Call me Ash.'

'Ok, Ash.' He grinned. 'Want me to show you around the house before my sister comes back?'

'Sure.' She smiled back and he led her to his room first. His was slightly bigger than hers and it had sky blue paint on the walls with a queen bed in the middle and a chest of drawers opposite it. On the roof she saw glow in the dark stars and pictures of rockets, he even had a rocket night light.

'It's not much, but it's home.'

'I think it's great.' I smiled.

'Really?'

'Yeah. So it I take it you like space stuff.'

'Oh yeah.' He nodded flopping on his bed, then he payed the spot next to him and she sat down. 'I've always liked space, I just think it's so amazing and there's so much out there for us to discover.'

'Yeah it is pretty cool.'

'Anyway, I'm sorry about your room; Mum and Dad wanted to wait until you arrived before they fixed it so they could do it the way you want.'

'Oh, wow, great!' She grinned.

'What will you do?' He asked curious. Ashlyn thought about it, she had loved her bedroom at the mansion, but this was her chance to have a bedroom that she designed with whatever she wanted in it, well within reason of course, but she knew exactly what she wanted.

'Well, I would like it to be painted emerald green and have a double bed with warm grey fluffy blankets and a green duvet. There would be a brown wooden chest of drawers on the wall opposite the bed, kinda like yours, but I would put some of my special things on top of it and have my very own set of book shelves where I could put all of my books. Then I would have a desk, like my old one, on the wall opposite the door, but closer to the wall where my bed is and that's it, I think.'

'That sounds great.' He smiled.

'Thanks.' Then they were interrupted by a shout that echoed through the house.

'Mathew, Mummy wants you!'

'Oh no.' He face-palmed.

'What?' Ashlyn asked confused.

'That's Hailey code for I want you out of the way.'

'Oh dear.'

'Yeah, my thoughts exactly... Wait a second, why don't you come with me and then she won't be able to do anything mean because Mum and Dad will be watching.'

Ashlyn flinched, she had never been able to say those two names together and it hurt that she now had a friend that would no doubt be saying it often. She felt that feeling of jealousy again, but she refrained from saying anything as she didn't want to upset or offend her new friend. She followed him downstairs and was angry to find Hailey cruelly poking and prodding Prince as he was trying to get away from her. She really didn't like her new "sister", who seemed to be more like one of Cinderella's step-sisters.

'Prince!' She called and the puppy came running, Ashlyn laughed as he barrelled into her legs. 'Hello good boy.' She cooed.

'He's cute, where did you get him from?' Mathew asked.

'My last family bought him for my birthday.'

'Cool. Anyway you wanted me Mum?'

'Yes Mathew, I was hoping that you and Hailey would take Ashlyn to the beach.' Teagan suggested before looking at Ashlyn. 'After all you must be hot from your long journey here.'

'Yes, I am kinda hot.'

'Ok then, do you have swimmers?' Mathew asked.

'No.' She shook her head.

'You can borrow a pair from Hailey.' Teagan said and Hailey, begrudgingly, let her borrow an aqua one piece swimsuit.


	26. Chapter 24

The three of them walked to the beach, but Ashlyn had the strangest feeling that they were being watched. At first she just ignored it, but as time went on she became more and more suspicious. Every so often she would look over her shoulder, or glance around her looking for anyone that she had seen a little too often, but each time she didn't see anyone who looked like they were watching them. By the time they were running into the water Ashlyn was begging to freak out, but she soon forgot about it as Mathew splashed her.

'Wait, are you allowed to go swimming with your...?' He asked pointing to her shoulder sling.

'As long as I don't try to swim properly or get dumped or something.' She replied.

'Oh, ok then.' He nodded. 'So I can still do this?!' He kicked a whole load of water! She replied standing side on to avoid getting pushed over by a wave.

'I bet I can go out further than both of you!' Hailey said and she ran out into the ocean so that was up to her chest.

'Wait for us!' Mathew called and the other two followed.

They laughed and squealed as they splashed around in the waves, trying to knock each other over before they body surfed into shore and ran back out again. However the swell started getting rougher and Ashlyn wasn't so sure if they should be out so far and she wanted to swim back towards the beach a little, but Hailey wanted to do the opposite.

'Let's go out further!' She cried and she swam out deeper.

'I don't think that's a good idea, Hailey!' Ashlyn called back.

'You're just scared, you're nothing but a big wuss!'

'You're probably right.' Ashlyn replied shrugging then she looked to Mathew. 'I don't like this, I'm getting out.' She said and she let the next wave take her back onto the beach and she laughed as it crashed her onto the sand.

Mathew wasn't sure about Hailey's decision, but he didn't want to get out just yet so he stayed where he was and kept jumping over and under the waves until he heard a shout. He looked to the beach where he saw Ashlyn shouting at him, he ran over to her and looked out to sea.

He could see his sister flopping about in the waves as it dragged her under. Ashlyn had been right, the waves were to rough and Hailey wasn't strong enough to swim out of it. The two of them watched for several seconds as she flailed helplessly in the water trying to scream out for help.

Ashlyn ran over to the life guards and pointed her out then they witnessed as he ran out into the surf to save her. He was able to reach her then he carried her out and laid her on the sand where she was coughing and spluttering before she threw up what looked like half the ocean. Ashlyn and Mathew thanked the life guard before taking her home.

'Are you ok Hailey?' Mathew asked worried.

'No!' She said angrily. 'I almost drowned! Thanks to you!' She pointed at Ashlyn.

'What do you mean thanks to me?' Ashlyn asked.

'If you hadn't have been such a big wuss and come out with me you could have saved me!'

'It wasn't Ashlyn fault she told you not to go out that far!' Mathew replied.

'I'm the one who got the life guard to save you!' She almost screamed.

'Well if she hadn't have come none of this would have happened!'

'That was not my fault, I never even wanted to come and live you!' She yelled and walked off ahead of them.

By now Michael was sitting in his room back at the mansion thinking about how he was going to punish Durant for what he had done to his family, prison was to good for coward, he deserved something a lot more painful. At first he had thought about shooting him in the gut so that he would die slowly and painfully, but even that was to good for him, he could try strangling him, but that just wasn't gruesome enough the he came up with the perfect idea, but his thoughts were interrupted as Devon came in.

'Michael, we've found something on where Durant is.'

Michael followed his colleague to his office where he showed him a photo of a man with light brown hair, chocolate brown eyes, a small nose, small mouth and a strong jawline.

'This is Justin Owens-'

'AKA Durant.' Michael cut him off.

'Yes, he was seen just days ago in Chicago with this man.' He showed him several photos of the new Durant drinking with another man at a coffee shop and as he looked closer Michael recognised the other man.

'Samuel Tesler.' He growled.

'Correct again Michael and we have found his new address, I'll transmit it to KITT's computers.' That was all Michael needed to hear before he was running out the door to meet his black t-top out the front of the mansion.

The pair were surprised to discover that the address wasn't that far away from where they had dropped Ashlyn off so drove to California, barely stopping along the way until they reached the address of Jennifer's ex fiancé Samuel Tesler. Michael got out of his car and started to walk determinedly towards the building. It was an apartment complex and his apartment was on the tenth floor, room 15C. While he acknowledged his partners warning to be careful, Michael had other things on his mind like how badly he was going to hurt Tesler in order to get information from him on Durant.

When he got to the room he didn't even bother to knock, he just opened the door and slammed it behind him. He looked to the couch where he saw Tesler was sitting, facing away from him toward the tv and a large window that over looked the streets below. His head was slumped forward slightly and he didn't seem at all concerned about the noise the door had made.

'Hello Tesler, long time no see. How does the Chameleon feel about you working with Durant?' He asked. No answer. He walked around the couch to find Tesler with a bullet in his head and blood al over his face. 'Dang it!' He said frustrated that their only lead had been murdered. He then lifted his comlink to his face. 'Looks like Durant knew we were coming, pal, Tesler's dead.' He informed his partner. 'Tell Devon and ask him to contact local authorities.'


	27. Chapter 25

'Yes Michael.' The AI replied. Michael then headed back downstairs and got back into KITT. 'How did he know you were coming?'

'I don't know, but he always covers his tracks so we've got to find another lead before he disappears again.'

'I agree and Devon is meting us nearby in the Semi.'

'Ok, let's see if they've found anything new.' He said and he pushed his foot down on the accelerator as they drove down the street.

'Actually Michael, after looking at everywhere Tesler has been for the last month we can see that he has been to the same coffee shop every week on Monday at 8:00 AM which is where these photos were taken of the two of them.' Devon explained.

'I was able to tap into Tesler's phone as he was talking with Durant and he revealed that he would be taking a friend with him to their next meeting.' Bonnie added.

'He also said that Durant had never seen him before and that Tesler would be picking him up and taking him over, the contacts name is Alan Colleman.'

'Now that Tesler's dead he won't be taking his friend to that meeting which means I can take his place.' Michael realised.

'No.' Bonnie shook her head.

'Why not?'

'RC will do it. Durant knows you Michael and no matter what disguise you use he will recognise you and not only will that stop our chances of getting him, it will also put your life in even more danger, besides it's in RC's old neighbourhood and... I don't trust you not to murder him in cold blood.' She said quietly.

Michael stared at her shocked, she knew him too well, that was exactly what he had intended to do. He deserved to die the most gruesome death possible and he would give it too him, but as he looked into his girlfriends eyes he saw not only determination, but also fear. Fear of him and what he could become if he went through with his plan.

What would he lose if he killed Durant? Yes he would finally have revenge for everything that phsyco had done to him, but what would Bonnie think of him? He would be just like Durant, a murderer. Then there was Ashley, how would she react to him knowing that he had killed someone? Even if that man had shot her and caused her too leave, she wouldn't forgive him and he wouldn't get to see her or anyone from the Foundation for at least fifteen years as he would be put in prison. He didn't want their relationship to turn out like Tonie and her father, after all she hates him for not being there because he was in prison. No Bonnie was right, he couldn't kill Durant.

At the Rider household it was time for dinner and while she was hungry, Ashlyn didn't want to make an appearance. She was embarrassed after what she had said on the way back from the beach and Hailey had no doubt told their parents what had happened, so she just knew she was going to be in trouble. With these thoughts whirling around in her head she was surprised to hear a knock on her door.

'Ash, can I come in?' It was Mathew.

'Sure.' She sighed and the boy walked in, closing the door behind him.

'I'm really sorry about Hailey, she just-'

'It's ok. I'm sorry for what I said earlier; I was rude, selfish and unkind.'

'So was Hailey, if she had listened to you she never would have gotten into trouble in the first place and blaming you for her mistake was wrong. Anyway, dinner's ready. You coming?'

'I guess.' She replied and followed him out into the kitchen. Everyone else was already sitting at the dining table and there were three seats left, or there would have been if Hailey hadn't put her bag on the one next to her. So Ashlyn sat next to Mathew, there was no way she would've sat next to Hailey anyway.

As she sat down she noticed Teagan and Jackson share a slightly worried look before turning their attention to the food in front of them. After several minutes Jackson decided to break the awkward silence that had fallen over them by asking the one question Ashlyn never thought he would.

'How was the beach today?'

Ashlyn nearly fell out of her chair, she was sure that Hailey would have told them what had happened and claimed that it was all her fault, but instead she just smiled sweetly and happily replied:

'It was great!'

'Yeah, we had so much fun!' Mathew added.

The adults looked at Ashlyn waiting for what she had to say about her first day with her new "siblings".

'It was heaps of fun.' She replied, forcing a smile in order to please her "parents".

'Glad to hear it.' He smiled.

'Ashlyn, do you do any sports?' Teagan asked.

'Well, I used to play netball, I've also played basketball a few times, wasn't very good at it, but I would like to try something different.'

'Well since you start school on Monday, I'm sure they'll have posters up for sports and other co-curricula activities that you can do. After all Mathew does soccer and Hailey does netball.' She suggested.

When the family finished eating Ashlyn went to her room. She Started getting undressed into her pyjamas when she paused and looked at herself in the mirror. She noticed the small circular mark just to the left of where her heart was. It still hurt occasionally, but not enough to want to tell anyone about it.

As she looked at it the scene replayed in her mind and a crash sounded from the kitchen, she held back a scream as she saw the flash and stumbled backwards away from the mirror, falling over on to the floor. She sat there shaking until Mathew came in to see if she was alright, she managed to pick herself up and get herself together, but not before he knew that something was majorly wrong. However she refused to tell him and he left, letting her to finish changing and getting into her pyjamas.

Michael couldn't stop thinking about his only daughter, how was she? Were they treating her alright? What had she told them? All of these questions circled around in his mind prompting him to call her on his comlink, but he held back knowing that she was probably already asleep and he wouldn't want to wake her. So instead he went downstairs to find Bonnie, he wasn't surprised when he found her talking with KITT.

'Bonnie, is something wrong?' Heard KITT ask.

'No what would make you ask that?' She replied.

'You seem upset.'

'I can't keep anything from you, can I.' She smiled.

'It would seem not.'

'Well, I want you and Michael to catch Durant, but at the same time I'm worried that he'll do something that he'll regret later.'

'He did beat Durant pretty badly the last time they met and he does have a lot more against him this time, but I doubt Michael would do anything truely regretful.'

'I promise I won't.' Michael said causing Bonnie to jump as he walked in.

'Michael you nearly gave me a heart attack.'

'Sorry.' He apologised as he wrapped his arms around her in a gently hug.

'How long were you standing there?'

'A little while.' He shrugged. 'Long enough to hear that you're afraid of what I might do, but I promise I won't do anything that I will regret.'

'I trust you.'

'Still I can't get my mind away from Ashley.' He sighed. 'Do you think she's ok?'

'She might be upset for a while, but she'll be ok, Michael.' Bonnie nodded.

'How do you know?' He asked.

'Because she's strong and a fighter, like her father.' She said giving him a peck on the cheek.

'I hope you're right.'

'Trust me, I am.' She replied. Then he went up to his room and got into bed where he fell into a restless sleep.


	28. Chapter 26

The next morning was one filled with apprehension, today RC3 was going to pose as Tesler's friend in order to contact Durant and despite Michael giving his solemn oath that he wouldn't try to kill Durant on the spot Bonnie and Devon had refused to let him go, not even to watch in case something went wrong.

'So I tKe it that all of this has stopped you from worrying about a certain young, blue eyed brunette?' Bonnie asked.

'Are you kidding, I'm the cool Dad, the relaxed Dad, I'm not worried. I know that she will be perfectly fine and since I'm not going anywhere I'll have plenty of time to take you out to lunch Miss Barstow.' He offered.

'Of course Mr Knight.' She nodded.

'Great.'

'However we still have a few hours before lunch and I still have some things to work on.' Then she went to the Semi, leaving Michael to his own devices. Being the "relaxed Dad" that he was he decided to call his daughter to see how she was.

'Ash?' He asked into his comlink.

'Dad?' Her voice came back.

'Yeah, it's me sweetie. How are you?'

'I'm good, what about you? How's everything over there?'

'All good, we are getting closer to catching the bad guy.'

'Great! Oh no, here comes Hailey, I'd better get going or she'll start asking questions, bye Dad.'

'Bye.' He replied.

Ashlyn had just finished pretending to tie up her shoe laces when Hailey walked in carrying her school bag full of not just her books, but Ashlyn's too. Of course she had tried to get out of it a couple of times before she put them in her bag, but she seemed to be somewhat ok with it now.

'You ready for your first day at Whitewater Prep?' She asked.

'Um, I guess so.'

'Well you'd better be because I'm not going to babysit you all day.' She said and she walked out the front door.

Ashlyn growled, that girl was as mean as they come and she wasn't going to be treated like dirt again. She didn't say anything as Mathew came in and they joined Hailey out the front of the house, but as they were walking Ashlyn got that creepy feeling that they were being watched and she tried to hurry them up.

'Come on guys, why are we walking so slowly?' She asked.

'You know Ash, I didn't think you'd be so anxious to get to school.' Mathew smirked.

'Well, the sooner we get there the sooner we can go home.'

She was relieved when they got to inside the gates and breathed a sigh of relief, however her feeling of relief dissolved when she saw the school. It was huge and it loomed over her like she pictured a school out of a scary movie.

'What do you think?' Mathew asked.

'I-I never pictured it to look anything like this.'

'Yeah, a lot of people say that.' He smiled. 'Come on, we'll show you around.'

'Um, I think you can show her around by yourself because I have to go and see Natasha and Isabel.' Hailey said then she walked in ahead of us and disappears.

'Come on Ash.' Mathew gently grabbed her arm and pulled her through the front door and into the halls of the school.

She looked around at all the students and teachers that were crowded into the hall. They walked around the corridors and up several flights of stairs until they reached a brightly decorated classroom, Ashlyn was shocked. The inside of the school was so different from the outside, everywhere she looked there was art, pictures, paintings, posters and examples of writing.

'Is this our classroom?' She asked amazed.

'Yep and that's our teacher: Mr Cole.' He indicated to the man that had been writing on the white board. He then turned around and smiled at the children, he had slightly curly blonde hair and hazel eyes.

'Hello Mathew, who's this?'

'Hi Mr Cole, this is my sister Ashlyn.'

'Nice to meet you Ashlyn, but I thought Hailey was your only sister Mathew.'

'Well, Ashlyn moved in with us yesterday so technically she's my stepsister, but I just call her my sister.'

'Fair enough, welcome to 3C Ashlyn.' He smiled warmly. 'I'll let you sit by your brother in the second row, come and take a seat while we wait for everyone else to arrive.' So the two of them sat down in their seats, there six rows of four, the two of them were in the second row and Ashlyn was in the middle to the right and Mathew was in in the middle to the left.

'Where does Hailey sit?' She asked.

'Over there.' He pointed to the last seat on the left in the front row.

'I see.'

Soon the rest of the class came in and took their seats, Ashlyn was happy to find out that a girl with long black hair, blue eyes and a pale complexion sat next to her.

'Hi, I'm Ruth Anderson.' She smiled.

'Nice to meet you, I'm Ashlyn Rider.'

'Oh, I never knew that Hailey had a sister.' She said surprised.

'I'm Mathew and Hailey's new stepsister.'

'Wow, anyway it's great to have someone new in Whitewater Prep.'

'Settle down everyone.' Mr Cole said trying to calm the excited class, soon everyone was quiet and he continued speaking. 'Good morning 3C.'

'Good morning Mr Cole.' They chimed happily.

'Now today we are going to welcome a new student, everyone say hello to Miss Ashlyn Rider.'

'Hello Ashlyn.' They smiled as Mr Cole encouraged her to stand up and give the class a small wave before sitting back down again.

'As Ashlyn is new here, I want all of you to make her feel welcome. On to today's announcement, I know your all been looking forward to today and what is happening, so without further delay when I give the word you may all grab a pen and sing up for whatever sport you want to enrol in for the term, remember that the most you can pick is two. Now go choose your sports.' Instantly everyone was out of their chairs and over at the sign-up sheets that had been stuck to the board with magnets.

Ashlyn looked at what sports were there, there was basketball, netball, cricket, soccer, football and field hokey out of all of them the only one that interested her was netball, but it seemed to be the most popular with the girls and she didn't like her chances of getting a place on the sheet. Then she spotted one more sheet down the end, no one had written their name up on it and when she went over to examine it further she was surprised to see:

'AAArts school of Martial Arts, run by Amber Karr.' She read quietly to herself. 'Sounds cool.' So she wrote her name down and returned to her desk. It would make sense that she would put her name down for martial arts since Michael was almost constantly getting into fights and with her luck she would no doubt need to defend herself.

'Has everyone got a sport?' Mr Cole asked, then he looked over the sheets and noticed that there were a few names that weren't up there. 'Ruth, James, Luis, Fabiana and Nick your names aren't up here. Come and choose a sport.' The kids did as they were told and surprisingly they all put their names down for martial arts. At least now Ashlyn would have some other people from school there with her.

'I noticed your name on the martial arts sheet so I put myself thee too.' Ruth whispered when she got back to her seat. 'Besides, I'm not really into any of the others.'

'Me neither.'

Class went pretty quickly after that and before they knew it recess and the middle classes were over and it was lunch time.


	29. Chapter 27

'Do you like Whitewater Prep?' Ruth asked as they ate in the playground.

'Yeah, how long have you been here?'

'I only started last term.' She replied sheepishly.

'I never would have guessed, I thought you'd been here since kindergarten.'

'Nah, I used to go to Lakeside Public School and unfortunately it's not far from here.'

'Why is that unfortunate?' Ashlyn asked confused.

'Lakeside Public School is Whitewater Prep's main rival, they used to go to functions at each other's campus until things got tighter and Lakeside Public started loosing students. They've been fighting ever since.'

'Oh.'

'Yeah and now a lot of my old friends think I betrayed them and don't talk to me anymore.' She sighed.

Ashlyn felt sorry for her new friend and she couldn't help wondering which was worse: your friends ignoring you and feeling like you betrayed them or your friends believing that you're dead?

At this time Michael had taken Bonnie out to a diner that wasn't too far from the mansion and the two of them were eating and just generally enjoying each other's company.

'So is it that bad that you don't get to chase the bad guy yourself this time?' She asked quirking an eyebrow.

'Well now that you mention it, this is indeed much more interesting.' He smirked.

'I should hope it would be.'

'So, what incredible new systems have you been working on for KITT?'

'Well, I haven't been able to create anything concrete, but I'm working towards getting an extra 15% percent increase in speed and 20% increase in scanner range.'

'20%?' He asked amazed. She nodded. 'Wow, KITT will be happy.'

'Nothing will be as major as the updates I installed the last time we rebuilt KITT.'

'Well you did an extraordinary job when you did that.' He smiled.

'I wasn't alone when we did that, I had tonnes of help from RC and his friends that worked on rebuilding KITT, I only did his systems.' She said embarrassed.

'True and you're welcome. Now let's talk about something other than work.' He suggested.

'Like what?'

'Um...'

'Yeah, we've worked together for years and that's basically all we've done together. Now that we have time to talk all we have to talk about is work.'

'Well now we can change that. So what do you do in your spare time while I'm off chasing criminals?'

'Normally I read or do extra research.'

'Don't you ever get out? Don't you have other girl friends that you can go out with?'

'No.' She brushed it off.

'We need to get you a social life.'

After school Ashlyn, Ruth and the other kids who had signed up for martial arts walked to the place where it was being held. When they went in they found a room filled with gym mats, punching bags, they noticed that the walls of the room were padded and Ashlyn assumed that was to prevent any accidental injuries or damages to the building.

'Hey guys.' They looked to the back of the room where a young woman with curly brown hair and light blue eyes was standing waiting for them. 'I'm Miss Amber K. Karr K., but please call me Amber. And you all are?' She looked them each over with a rather warm friendly smile, though seemed more interested in the one called Ashlyn.

'I'm Fabiana, but everyone calls me Fabi.'

'My name's Nick.'

'James.'

'I'm Ruth.'

'Name's Luis.'

'Ashlyn.'

'Nice to meet you all.' Amber smiled softly, then approached Ashlyn kneeling down some. She saw that her shirt had slipped off her shoulder just enough so that she could see a mark she knew to be a bullet wound on the young girls shoulder. 'How are you? Take it easy with that shoulder. Don't worry I'm somewhat of a nurse myself.'

Ashlyn realised what she had seen and swiftly covered her "scar" pointing an icy glare at her new teacher, indicating that she had no desire to talk about it and had absolutely no desire to be treated any differently for it. Amber then got up to start lessons, teaching them for the remainder of the class.

When it was over, she called out to Ashlyn. 'Oh, Ashlyn. Could you come here a sec? I have something for you.' Amber had been going through her bag and pulled out a rather beaten looking small box, which she skimmed through what looked like papers that had been damaged in a variety of ways.

Ashlyn walked over, feeling a mix of curiosity and uncertainty. This new teacher seemed to be a little more interested in her than the other students and it made her nervous. Her day had been good and the lesson even better, but she knew just how quickly a good day could turn horrible.

'What is it?' She asked.

'I believe you should have these.' Amber handed her an old faded photo, and a paper. 'Me and a... 'friend' saved these from getting trashed.' She laughed a little at the "grump" sound which appeared to be coming from her own comlink-disguised-as-a-watch, giving a sidewards smile to Ashlyn.

'Thank you.' She replied looking at them. She noted that the paper looked like her birth certificate and while it seemed unedited, it was difficult to read. She looked confused at her new teacher before making a quick exit and walking home.

'Hey Ashlyn, how was school?' Teagan asked.

'It was great, I made a new friend and I've started martial arts class, it's after school every Monday and Thursday.' She explained.

'Good to hear.' The woman smiled and Ashlyn hurried into her bedroom. Her "parents" had promised to start fixing it up this coming weekend and she was looking forward to it. For now though, she flopped on her bed and stared at the things her martial arts teacher had handed her. The photo was to damaged to make out properly and the document wasn't very clear, however she could just make out her mother's name on this copy.

'Bonnie Barstow?' She read aloud then promptly fainted.

-/-/-

**Hello everyone! Lexa here! I hope you aren't too grumpy with me for doing a rewrite! I'm sorry that this is taking so long, but I thought there were a few things I would change. Anyway, I need to give some credit out now to my partner, Decrosse. She is responsible for letting me use her OC Amber! So why don't you go and check her out? Well that's all for this chapter! Bye!**


	30. Chapter 28

**Disclaimer I don't own Knight Rider**

-/-/-

As soon as Ashlyn woke up her mind started screaming about how impossible that was, how could Bonnie be her mother? She and Michael had only admitted their feelings for each other a few months ago, so there was no way that Bonnie could be her mother, it was impossible! Wasn't it? That brought her attention to the faded photo, she could on make out the outline of someone holding something, but she couldn't see their face. Still she knew someone that might be able to help her.

'KITT?' She asked into her comlink.

'Ashley?'

'That's me.' She replied, loving the fact that he still used her real name. 'I need a favour; can you enhance this photo while working through my comlink, please?' She pointed her comlink to the photo then listened for KITT's reply.

'I'm sorry Ashley, but you're too far away from my position and the photo is badly damaged, I can't enhance it. Sorry.' He replied sadly.

'That's ok KITT, what about this?' She did the same for the document.

'This one is easier and... Oh my goodness, Ashley it says that Bonnie is your birth mother.'

'I know, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't seeing things.'

'How is that possible? Bonnie and Michael were never in a relationship until a few months ago.'

'I don't know, but tell Dad that I love him and tell the others that I miss them.'

'I will, but should I mention this?' He asked.

'No, but I've gotta go, bye KITT.'

'Goodbye Ashley.'

Ashlyn continued to lie on her bed and stare at the certificate in shock, this was by far the craziest thing that had ever happened to her apart from jumping out of a speeding car and getting shot by a mad man.

Yet if she was entirely honest with herself then maybe it wasn't so crazy, after all they did share several qualities and if she hadn't known that she and Michael had only been together for a short time it would have been very possible, but the fact that they had been too shy to tell each other how they felt meant that there was no way she was Bonnie's daughter.

There was one other thing that stuck in her mind too: where did Amber get these from and how did she know that Ashlyn was related to them? Her name had been changed so that people wouldn't know who she was and yet somehow this teacher knew who she was, or rather who she had been before she became Ashlyn Rider and she was determined to find out how.

Not too long after their lunch Michael and Bonnie caught up with Devon and the three of them went to meet RC on the Semi and it turned out that he had received some surprising news, like for starters Durant didn't even know that Tesler was dead. He had also made RC his new "partner" and told him his new scheme.

'He told me that for now he's not interested in Ashley, instead he wants to build up a score so he is respected around the neighbourhood again.'

'So what does he intend on doing?' Devon asked.

'Well he wants me to go undercover so I can get into some rich lady's party and steal a huge diamond.' He replied.

'What's the lady's name?' Bonnie asked.

'Alice Clearmon.' He replied checking a small piece of paper. Devon went as white as a sheet.

'What's wrong Devon?' Bonnie asked confused.

'Alice Clearmon owns the only twenty carat diamond in California.' He said. 'She is having a party at her house this weekend to auction off several pieces of her jewellery for a charity fundraiser and several board members have been invited to it.'

'Speaking of the board what are we going to tell Jennifer? She doesn't know that Tesler's dead.' Michael pointed out.

'Yes... Well she will be there at the party this weekend and I recommend that we don't tell her until after that incase she tries to interfere in the plan.

'I hope she's alright after all, it's one thing to find out your fiancé's working with a criminal it's another to find out that he's been murdered. Even though she's already called it off, it will still be hard for her to hear.' Bonnie added.

'Indeed.' Devon nodded. 'I will inform Jennifer that afternoon after we have left the party. In the mean time everyone who was invited to the party is allowed to bring a plus one and given the circumstances I have chosen Bonnie, so would you like to accompany me?' He asked.

'Alright Devon.' She nodded.

The rest of the week went smoothly as Ashlyn went to school with Mathew and Hailey, she soon became popular with the rest of the class and the teachers, which then sparked a rivalry between the two stepsisters.

As Ashlyn didn't have her own bag Teagan and Jackson asked Hailey to carry her things until the weekend when they would get Ashlyn her own bag, however Hailey had other ideas and promptly dropped all of Ashlyn's books out of her bag making Ashlyn to be late after picking them up and running the rest of the way to the classroom. Hailey had also taken a liking to tripping Ashlyn, especially in crowded places where everyone could see her fall and humiliate her.

Today was Friday and the class had been learning about ships and sailing during the nineteenth century. They had rearranged their desks into table groups from four to six people on each table and turned them into their own mini ships. Each "ship" had a "crew" with each student playing a role.

Mr Cole, however, decided to put the three siblings on the same "ship" as he wanted to see how they cooperated with each other. Mathew, Ashlyn and Ruth, along with Mathew's best friends Jack and Kevin worked well with each other and soon set about discussing which student would play which role. Hailey, however, was determined that she should be the captain and that Ashlyn should be "the swabbie" who was only in charge of making sure that the "ship" was clean when they packed up or had an "inspection" by the teacher.

The other children agreed to let Hailey be the Captain, much to Ashlyn and Mathew's displeasure, which then meant that she assigned them their roles. As such Mathew became the "cabin boy" and was responsible for getting notes and equipment from the teacher when needed, Kevin became the "first mate" which meant he was in charge if Hailey was ever busy or away, Ruth was now the "carpenter/surgeon" who, apart from taking down the "mast" and "sails" for the weekends, really didn't do anything unless they did a special activity that specifically required that person to do something and Jack was "the navigator".

It soon became clear that Hailey enjoyed being Captain because she was allowed to order her "crew" around. Every chance she got she was telling someone to do something and usually that was Mathew or Kevin while she hardly talked to Ashlyn and she was fine with that.

Life after school wasn't much different, she hung out with Mathew, they did their together either in his room or hers and when he was busy and had to do other things she would play with Prince. She had already taught him how to sit when she told him to and was currently trying to get him to lie down on command.

'Come on Prince, just follow the treat.' She instructed moving the liver treat in a straight line down the puppy's chest and onto the ground, smiling as the dog did as he was told and lied down. 'Good boy! You are such a good boy!' She grinned. Then she felt the hair on the back of her neck prickle and she turned to look at the glass door just in time to see a flash of blonde hair disappear. Hailey must have been watching her.

Inside Hailey had been doing just that, if she was honest she enjoyed watching her stepsister play with her puppy and had wanted to join in, but she didn't have the courage to ask. She may have been popular at school she was a nervous wreck when it came to talking with new people and after being so unkind to her stepsister she had no idea what to say or how to apologise. So she just walked away back to her room to sulk and try to distract herself by reading her notes from class.


	31. Chapter 29

After a while Ashlyn decided to come back inside and wash her hands before seeing if she could find a snack, she then grabbed an apple out of the fruit bowl and rinsed it under a tap before biting into it. She smiled as she heard the crunch and tasted the delicious sweetness before chewing it up and swallowing it.

She took it back to her room to finish eating it, on the way she thought about everything they had done at school and how much fun she was having with Ruth and by the time she reached her room she was grinning from ear to ear. She was soon surprised as her comlink beeped just as she was sitting down on her bed.

'Hello?' She asked into it.

'Hey sweetheart how are you?' It was Bonnie.

'Hi Bonnie!' She almost squealed, it felt good to talk to her friend again even though it felt weird knowing that her friend was also her mother that no one else (except KITT and possibly Amber) knew about. 'I'm good, how are you?'

'I'm great, so are Devon, RC and Michael.'

'What's been going on?'

'Not much; we've all been missing you like crazy though, the place has been so quiet since you left.' The two of them laughed.

'I miss you all too.' She replied. 'Oh, guess what? I've started martial arts classes and I'm now going with my new friend, her name's Ruth and she's really nice!'

'I'm glad to hear that.'

The two of them chatted for ages and Devon and Michael joined the conversation after explaining that RC was unfortunately busy working on something, but they refused to tell her exactly what for fear they would make her worry. Just as Ashlyn was beginning to feel like she was home again a voice interrupted their conversation.

'Kids, it's time for dinner!' Jackson called.

'Aw man, looks like I've gotta go, bye.' Ashlyn said dejectedly.

'Bye Ashlyn.' Bonnie replied.

'Take care.' Devon bid her goodbye.

'Bye Ash, talk to you soon.' Michael said and the conversation was finished.

Ashlyn went to dinner with the rest of her "family" once again making sure to sit next to Mathew and have as little as possible to do with Hailey, who was ignoring her, which made her pretty happy. However the conversation left a lot to be desired.

'So how was school?' Teagan asked.

'It was good.' Mathew replied.

'That's good, what about you Ashlyn? Are you settling in?' Jackson asked.

'Yeah, it's great...'

'I hope you are helping your sister, Hailey.' He said narrowing his eyes slightly.

'Of course Daddy.' She smiled in her sickly sweet way. Ashlyn shook her head, she was such a liar! The only thing Hailey had helped her do was carry her books and even that was begrudgingly.

'Good.' He nodded. 'What about you Mathew? Showing Ashlyn the ropes, aren't we?'

'Yes Dad.' He nodded while shoving spaghetti bowl in his mouth.

'Mathew, don't talk with food in your mouth.' Teagan disciplined him.

'Sorry.' He grinned sheepishly after swallowing his last mouthful.

'Anyway, what days are your sports on kids?' Jackson asked.

'Netball training's on Wednesday and Thursday.' Hailey replied.

'Soccer's on Tuesday and Thursday.' Mathew answered casually.

'Martial arts is on Monday and Thursday.' Ashlyn shrugged keeping her head low.

'That's good because we have to work late on Thursday for the next couple of weeks and Hailey, Mathew, I've called Tawnia and Jack's parents and they are going to pick you up since they both do the same sports as you, so you will spend the rest of the afternoon at their house and we will pick you up on the way home.' Teagan explained.

'What about me?' Ashlyn asked confused.

'Well... I'm afraid I don't know any of your friends, is there anyone from martial arts that would be able to look after you on Thursday?' She asked.

Ashlyn thought about it; she knew that Ruth wouldn't be able to take her home as she had told her that she had a dentist appointment and she didn't really have any other friends, however she wondered if Amber might be able to look after her for a while... She'd have to ask on Monday.

'My martial arts teacher might.'

'Is that a good idea?' Jackson asked uncertain.

'Her name's Amber and she's really nice.' She assured him. Not to mention she knows something about my past...

'Alright, we'll have to meet her first, just to make sure that she's ok with it and that she's responsible enough to look after you until we pick you up.' He agreed.

That weekend Bonnie and Devon attended the party as guests, with RC undercover as one of the caterers. They chatted to the other guests and Devon introduced Bonnie to the host Miss Alice Clearmon, Bonnie was surprised when she met the woman as the young blonde couldn't have been more nineteen and yet she was positively rich! She seemed to be quite formal, even though she liked to laugh and she wasn't impressed when someone said that her charity was bogus.

'Wishful Thinking, is a real charity that helps the lives of sick and injured children all over the world! We have helped over 20 million families and the money that is raised today will not only go towards treatment for children with severe health problems, but it will also provide better facilities for them.' She replied angrily.

'I agree, Miss Clearmon has good intentions and her charity has done nothing, but good and if you can't see that then I suggest you leave. Immediately.' It was Jennifer and she was not happy until the person left. After which Devon walked over and thanked her for her input and asked to speak her once the party was over.

'Of course Devon.' She nodded.

The party continued and RC managed to steal the diamond without anyone noticing, with the exception of Devon who kept the other distracted. However the festivities soon halted when it was discovered the diamond was missing.

'My diamond!' Alice yelled horrified.

'What is it Miss Clearmon?' One of the guests asked concerned.

'My special diamond, it's the only twenty carat diamond in California and it's gone!'

'Are you sure?'

'Yes, it was in the display case right here and it's gone! Someone must have stolen it!' She cried! Everyone started to panic and Devon took Jennifer back to the Semi and told her the situation.

'He-he's dead?' She asked sitting down shakily.

'I'm sorry Jennifer, Michael found him murdered in his apartment.'

'I-I don't know what to say.' Tears streamed steadily down her face, ruining her make up. 'He was my fiancé, but he worked with a criminal. I should be happy he's gone and that he can't hurt anyone anymore, but I loved him!' She broke down in sobs that wretched through her body.

Devon had no idea how comfort her, he understood her situation, but he had never been very good at comforting others and he stood beside her awkwardly not knowing how to help her. Bonnie soon came in to take her home and offer her condolences. Bonnie had a feeling that Jennifer would react this way, after all it wasn't easy to lose someone close to you no matter what they had done.

'I'm so sorry.' She whispered.

'I loved him, even though he was never very good!' The other woman cried.

At the same time RC was talking with the Chameleon and showing him the prize he had scored, it was needles to say his "partner" was impressed, but he still wanted more.

'Well done, but there is more to be done if I am going to regain my status among the wealthiest criminals in the country.'

'Ok, so what do we do now?' RC asked.

'Now, my friend, we see what the bank can offer us.'

Monday. Ashlyn got up and quickly started putting on her uniform, first her black cotton tights, then her white singlet, followed by her blue and green plaid skirt and white school blouse with the school emblem on the left breast. She paused in the middle of buttoning the third button from the top and glanced at herself in the mirror. Her blouse was still open just enough for her her to spot it. That small mark that was going symbolise the end of her life. Yet there she was still moving and breathing as if nothing had ever happened, but she knew different. Everything had happened that day and that mark was the only trace left of what might have been.

It was still hard to believe that she had actually died on the table; everyone thought that was it, they had all given up on her, even her Dad. She needed to find out why this guy was after her, why he had shot her and how much did Amber know. Then again how much did her family know that they weren't telling her? Did Bonnie know she was her mother? Was it her that had abandoned her to the orphanage and left her in the hands of strangers? What did Devon know about this? She had so many questions left unanswered, but she knew she wasn't going to get anywhere unless she hurried up and got ready for school. The children then went and had their breakfast with their parents.

'Remember Ashlyn we are going to come to your martial arts class to meet this teacher of yours and see if she will be able to look after you on Thursdays.' Jackson reminded her.

The day seemed to drag on forever for Ash as she waited for martial arts, by the time school was over she was ready to run all the way to the dojo and get this meeting over with so that Thursday would come sooner, but at the same time she was worried of what her teacher would think of all this and how she would react to having to look after her.

She didn't want her to be like her first foster family and especially because Amber would be able to beat her up worse than her old "father" could given her training. She considered the possibility as she walked with Ruth and the others to class and by the time they got there she was sweating bullets. She only freaked out more when she noticed that Jackson and Teagan were already there waiting for her. The group walked in and Amber smiled at them.

'Greetings, it's really nice to meet you Miss and Mister?" Amber smiling sweetly, offering her right hand for a handshake.

'Teagan and Jackson Rider.' Teagan shook her hand.

'I'm Miss Amber Karr K., but please just call me Amber.' She introduced herself to the adoptive parents.

'It's great to meet you Amber, Ashlyn's been so excited to come to your classes.' Jackson glanced at his "daughter" who was now talking with Ruth.

'Well, I'm glad to have serious students to teach early knowing just how dangerous the outside world can be. Anyways, you're here for another reason?'

'The main reason we wanted to come and speak to you today is we need someone to look after Ashlyn on Thursday as we have to work late, we were wondering if you would be able to babysit her for a few hours after class.' Jackson explained.

'There's no problem to me, in fact here's my emergency number you can reach me at for anything. Including emergency baby- and pet-sitting, for free.' Amber pulled out a blank card from her bag and wrote down the number on it, 'Just, don't be surprised if a male voice answers if I can't get to the phone right away. He's a good friend of mine.' She answered handing them both a copy of her card, just in case one gets lost.

'Thank you, this really helps us out.' Teagan smiled. 'Anyway, we'd best be off, goodbye.' Then the two adults left, allowing class to continue as normal.


	32. Chapter 30

**Here we are! 30 chapters! I am so happy! And at the same time really REALLY sorry that I didn't do this sooner! I hope that me doing a slight rewrite is ok with everyone, I just thought that things were getting a little too hectic and there were a few things that I had wanted to put in earlier that I didn't get to so I decided to go back and add them in. On top of that I can't believe that this story now has 101 reviews! WHOO HOO! That is awesome thanks so much guys! Anyway, on to the chapter!**

**Disclaimer I don't own Knight Rider.**

-/-/-

On Thursday Ashlyn went home with Amber after class, despite being incredibly nervous. Amber noticed this as she watched the young girl's constant fidgeting and the way she glanced around once the rest of the students left.

'Do you like pets and what kind?' She smiled warmly.

'I like most pets, but dogs, cats and rabbits are my favourite.' She replied as they walked out the door.

Amber approached a rather polished looking silver and white '89 Trans Am, entering and opening the passenger side from within, 'One of my projects, still needs work. Sorry, the passenger door from the exterior has trouble on opening. This is not my usual ride.'

'It's ok, like you said it just needs a bit more work, you should have seen the ride my last carer owned.' She smiled as she remembered her friend. 'That was a car.' No, he was so much more than car. He was a friend and... A brother. She thought to herself.

Amber smiled at that though said nothing more as she drove to her house, which surprisingly wasn't too far from AAArts. Iron gates creaked open upon the vehicle's arrival, no obvious electronics anywhere. Turning up the well paved drive which looped around and back in a fancy S-shape, the lawn was well manicured and bright green.

'Here we are.' She parked her car just outside near the door of the rather large-looking, pristine white house. She got out, the fresh scent of Roses, Violets, and Lavender filled the air. A rather large pond sat in the front of the house to the right, shaded by a single weeping willow. Hedges surrounded her property, very well trimmed and looked after. Other flowers of many kinds lined around the front and drive.

To the left was the garage, which if one was truthful to themselves could likely fit three, maybe four, cars. Though it was never dark within that one specific room. A little more off from the garage was her little farm, with a variety of trees, grains, fruits and veggies nearly ready for picking.

The house itself of course wasn't as large as the mansion, yet there appeared to be another door beside the main door that could fit a Trans Am even. It, the house; was in a kind of Victorian style from the outside. A "yip" came from a small dog-like creature who came bouncing through the doggydoor, it was mostly black with some silvery-and-white, the tail tip completely white and wagging more like a dog's. Though the eyes were slit more like a feline's, it sat politely lifting up a paw.

'He's so cute.' Ashlyn smiled.

'Well, looks like Rook likes you already.' Amber commented, petting him on the head gently. 'Believe it or not he's really a fox, more specifically the Red Fox species.'

'Wow, I've never seen a fox like this, but then again I've never seen a real fox before.' She bent down and ran her hand over his fur before standing up straight and surveying the land around her. 'You really live here?' She asked in awe.

'Yep.' Smiling, she walked in the small door.  
There were apparently three signs hanging in the windows like those common "Beware of Dog" signs though one said "Cat" instead and the last one seemed to read "Car" was it a typo?

The interior of the house had parallel halls to the human-sized halls were wide enough to fit a car, no carpeting in sight. Or rugs for that matter. On passing the door leading into the garage one could presumably hear what sounded like breathing, yet wasn't quite. Amber led her guest to the living room where Rook had promptly curled up beside the foot of a single seat couch which happened to be facing a computer with a larger screen. 'Make yourself comfortable, is there anything you'd like? Food, drink?' She also pointed out the way to the bathroom, which was to the right down the hall a bit from the living room.

Ashlyn looked around wondering where she could leave her school bag, she had never been to stay at someone else's house as a guest before and was unsure of how to react to her martial art teachers friendly hospitality.

'Um, where can I put leave my school bag?' She asked hesitantly.

'You can put it on that shelf for now.' Amber pointed out the wooden maple bookshelf which she just happened to have put her own bag on, 'Now, is there anything I can get you?' Her voice gentle and friendly. Ashlyn walked over and put her bag on the shelf next to Amber's before turning to face her.

'No thank you, I'm not hungry and I've got my own drink bottle.' She pulled it out of her bag and had a sip before putting it back. She then turned slightly and stared at the young woman, there were so many questions she wanted to ask her, but she didn't know where to start. Still she wanted answers and asking questions was the only way to get them so she started with the most crucial ones and just blurted them out. 'Where did you get that stuff you gave to me on Monday and how did you know they had something to do with me?'

Amber had expected those kinds of questions early, "Those are easier answered by my friend, which you can communicate to with that computer.' She stated a little sad, 'Sorry, I have to go check on Bishop. One of my other pets. Fair warning, said friend can be stubborn on certain questions.' She then let the room, heading to the room where this "Bishop" was located.

"Hello" was typed out on the computer screen. Ashlyn cautiously sat down in front of the computer and slowly tapped out a message.

'Hi, um... Ok first who or what are you? Second where did Amber get the document and the photo? Third how did she know that they had something to do with me? Fourth why is she being so nice to me?' She asked and waited impatiently for a reply. None of this seemed right, normal people don't own black and white foxes or have mysterious friends that you had to write to on a computer. What did it all mean?

'One at a time, kid. My "name" isn't that important right now. Here, I'll answer a question as well as I'm allowed to per game if you'll play with me as I am quite bored' was the typed response, with a few game option choices falling under the "Cards" and "Boards" categories.

Ashlyn looked down the list: checkers, chess, scrabble, sorry, uno and go fish. She wasn't very good at many of them, she was especially bad at chess, scrabble and sorry, but she was determined to get answers so she chose her favourite: checkers. She clicked on it and watched as the game loaded.

She soon discovered that whoever this "friend" of Amber was, they were very good at checkers and soon she had lost almost half of her pieces while she had only capture four of his. Still she was determined to give this person a run for their money just in case they refused to answer her question if she didn't win or try hard enough.

She managed to "king" several of her pieces, which then allowed them to move in any direction rather than only being able to move them forward so she was now able to move out of the way when the other player was trying to "jump" her. While she had done well the other player still won and she only hoped that he would now keep his word and answer one of the questions she had asked.

'Are you going to answer one of my questions now?' She asked typing it on the keyboard and watching as it appeared on the screen.

'You know that counts as a question itself.' One could swear this 'friend' let out a chuckle on the typed reply, "But... Yes, as I said earlier one question per game. Pick another game.'

Ashlyn growled, she really did not like this person and she was bent on beating him so she had bragging rights. She made a mental note to tell Amber about just how annoying her friend had been just out of pure spite. Still she chose another game, this time went for another game she had some experience with as she had played it with some of her old friends from her previous school: uno and despite the other players skill it seemed like luck had favoured Ashlyn and she won leaving the other player still with four cards.

'Now tell me what I want to know.'

'That's not a question so doesn't count. To answer your first question, I am an AI.' He, the "friend" hinted then unlocked a couple other games under the other categories. Racing, Puzzle, Adventure, RPG, etc.

An Artificial Intelligence, weird! Ashlyn thought to herself before choosing another game. Crazy 8's. After a rather fun/challenging game in which Ashlyn lost (due to never having played the game before) the other player agreed to answer another question, but they were interrupted before he could.

'Everything alright there?' Amber asked while delivering a snacks-plate, and taking Rook to his feeding room around the corner. Then returned to the room, 'Continue. Though, would you like another player in an Uno game?' She smiled at both the computer screen and Ashlyn.

Ashlyn nodded so Amber pulled up another seat while Ashlyn clicked on Uno and the game began. Ashlyn started and the colour the computer had put down was red so she played her red 2, Amber followed with a red 4, then the other player put down a red nine. They went around until Amber changed the colour to green and put down a reverse, so when it was Ashlyn's turn she played a "skip" and skipped Amber.

By the end of the game they were all happy and laughing loudly at the tricks each one of them had tried to pull, not to mention that Rook had tried to get in on the fun and run off with some of the cards so that they had to chase him for them! Amber won the game, despite the interruption, but just as they finished the phone rang and Amber went to pick it up.

'Hello?' She asked into it.

'Hello, Amber? It's Teagan, Ashlyn's mum, I just wanted to let you know that I am on my way to come and pick her up.'

'I see... I could drop her home, if that would make things easier for you.'

'Are you sure?'

'Yes.'

'Oh, thank you! That would make things a little easier.'

'Then it's settled, I'll bring her home right now. Goodbye.'

'See you soon, bye.'

Amber then took Ashlyn back to the Riders house and after a brief conversation Ashlyn was sent inside to have her dinner and Amber went home.


	33. Chapter 31

**Hello again everyone, how are we all? So after reading your reviews I see there are one or two things I need to fix, so thank you for telling me that something was up.**

**Decrosse - Thank you for pointing out that duplicate chapter, I'll be sure to fix that ASAP and I'm sorry about not consulting you on using Amber at the end of the last chapter.**

**hayknight - I'm glad you like them. :)**

**GirlWhoLovesAnime - I'm sorry about that, but as I said before I am doing a slight rewrite on some of the chapters, so I hope telling you this makes more sense now.**

**Well that's all, enjoy!**

-/-/-

Four days later and Michael and KITT were on their way to see Ashley, it's needless to say the two of them were excited to see the young girl again, however it would appear that they arrived at precisely the wrong time. As they pulled up outside the Riders house they heard yelling coming from inside, whatever was happening wasn't good and Michael was rather concerned as to what was going on.

'Keep your scanners peeled, ok pal?' He said to the car as he got out and walked up to the front door.

'Yes Michael.' KITT replied.

The man then knocked on the door and moments later the door opened to reveal a rather upset and nervous Mathew.

'Hello, I don't know if you remember me or not, but I-'

'You're the man who dropped Ash off here, aren't you?' The boy cut him off, Michael nodded.

'Yes, that's me.'

'Oh no! Please don't take her away! Please! I know what she did wasn't right, but it wasn't that bad!' He started to beg. Michael stared at him confused.

'Why would I take her away? What has she done?'

'S-She... Wait you don't know?'

'No.'

'So you're not going to take her from us?'

'No, of course not.'

'O-Ok... So what are you doing here?'

'I came to see her, if that's alright.'

'Sure, but I warn you things aren't to great in there at the moment... Still come in.' He invited him in and the man followed him through the house until they got to the kitchen where the fight was taking place.

'How dare you do such a thing! We take you in to our home, give you food and shelter, we take care of you and put you into school, try and make you a part of our family and this is how you repay us?! Why?!' Jackson Rider was standing over the top of Ashley yelling at her furiously!

While the girl sat quivering silently, taking the abuse without question. Michael was shocked and he felt his blood boil as he watched the man screaming at his daughter, he might not know what she had done, but whatever it was it surely wasn't enough to deserve this!

'What is going on here?!' He asked loudly, gaining the attention of all who were in the room.

'M-Michael?' Ashley's face lit up slightly as she saw her father.

'Mr Knight?!' Jackson turned around to face him. 'What are you doing here? How did you get in?'

'Your son let me in.'

'I see, well what do you want? Can't you see we are having a family discussion?'

'What kind of a family discussion is this?! You're abusing her!' He accused furiously!

'I am not! I am disciplining her!' The other man replied, but Michael ignored him instead choosing to look at the terrified girl.

'Come here.' He beckoned her forward and she ran over to him, throwing her arms around him as he kneeled down to her height.

'Oh Daddy! Please tell me you've come to take me home! I don't like it here!' She pleaded quietly so only he could here.

'I'm sorry, my precious, but I only came to visit for the day...'

'What?!'

'Don't worry, I'll go and tell Devon right now what's going on and I'll take you home right away.' He assured her, stroking her chestnut coloured hair as she buried her face into the crook of his neck. He then let go of her and stood up, glaring at the head of the Rider family. 'What did she do to deserve being verbally abused?!'

'She publicly humiliated my daughter!'

'How?'

'She-'

'I put glue on Hailey's seat and it dried after she sat on it so when she went to stand to go to the bathroom her skirt ripped.' Ashley explained keeping her gaze fixed firmly on the floor, unable to look her father in the eye.

'Why would you do something like that?' He asked shocked by her behaviour.

'Because... I thought it would make me popular.' She lied.

'What?' Michael asked in disbelief. He would never have thought Ashley capable of something like that.

'I-I'm sorry... I know it was wrong.'

'Now do you see why I was punishing her?' Jackson sneered at her.

'What she did wasn't right, that's true, but that doesn't justify the fact that you were screaming at her while standing threateningly over the top of her and for a child like Ashley that can do serious damage to them so no! Don't you dare try and justify yourself because she did something that wasn't very nice and use it as an excuse to yell at her like that!'

Teagan then stepped up as her husband prepared to retaliate and stopped him.

'He's right, Jackson. You shouldn't have been so hard on her.'

The man sighed and looked down at Ashley who continued to shiver under the harsh gaze of the adults around her.

'You're both right. I'm sorry Ashley.'

'I-It's ok.' She whispered.

'No it's not, I've clearly upset you and I really am sorry, but next time, just tell us if you're having trouble fitting in at school instead of trying to pull a silly prank.'

'Y-Yes sir.'

'Well I'm glad we got that straightened out. Now what brought you here, Mr Knight?'

'I came to see Ashley and spend a little time with her just to see how she's going, it's a thing we do as part of a program we come around once a month and check on the child.' He lied.

'Oh ok then.'

'Why don't we go for a drive, alright Ashley?' He suggested and she nodded mutely. 'Come on.' He gently took her hand and they walked out to KITT.

'Thank you.' She said quietly.

'You're welcome.'

'Hi KITT.'

'Hello Ashley, how are you?' He asked as she got into his passenger seat.

'Good.'

'That's good... So where are we going?' The AI asked.

'Good question... Anything you wanna do Ash?'

'I don't know... Beach?'

'I hoped you would say that. Let's go!'


	34. Chapter 32

Once they arrived they saw the sun was shining, the water looked great and for a moment the two of them just sat in kitt and watches the waves roll in white tipped, spreading themselves like fine lace over the beach after they crash in their soft way. The view served to make them both even more eager to go swimming despite that the beach was crowded, however Ashley soon realised something.

'Dad, I still don't have any swimmers.'

'Well we'll need to change that, won't we? Come on.' They got out of KITT.

'Have fun.' The AI said as they shut his doors.

'We will and you make sure to keep your scanners, eh?'

'Yes Michael.' He replied and the others walked off.

Michael then took his daughter shopping and surprisingly he found it quite fun, watching he young girl messing around with the clothes and being silly. They both laughed more than they had in a while and by the end of it Ashley had a pair of purple and black starry swimmers!

'Thank you Dad!'

'You're welcome! Do you like them?'

'Are you kidding?! I love them!' She hugged him happily.

Since she liked them so much it was only natural that she just had to try them out.

Her and Michael got changed, yes Michael had planned ahead and brought his trunks, and they raced down to the water. Ashley smiled at the feeling of the warm sand underfoot as she headed toward the water. Though she didn't seem to really head Michael as he continued to warn her about being careful with her shoulder as she ran into the cool, salty water.

'Ashley, don't go out too far! Be careful with your-'

'Shoulder! I know! You don't have to tell me twice!' She replied before splashing him!

'I'll get you for that!' He grinned and splashed her back! As the two of them were so busy have fun and Michael was watching out for his daughter he failed to notice a certain car that had also been out and about.

The two-tone trans-am had been at the Paradise Cove beach, trying to figure out what had happened specifically during his confrontation wit his brother years ago that caused him to go the wrong way off the cliff, though his sonar was offline KARR had picked up a signal of his brother nearby.

As he left the parking space he slammed on his brakes to avoid hitting a small family causing him to leave behind some skid marks, he floored it when he had the chance though ending up roughly clipping a car's rear bumper that had been trying to reverse out of it's parking space. Due to the amount of people there KARR had up his original plate which read "KNIGHT" instead of his preferred one with his own name on it.

He quietly grumbled to himself about the incidents, he hadn't want to cause anyone trouble least of all his brother but simply couldn't risk being discovered for the time being so he was off to elsewhere so long as he stayed out of KITT's quite large sensor range radius.

It wasn't until later that news of this other trans-am reached Michael's ears after he and Ashley had got themselves soaked and had a whole load of fun. After which they got dried and dressed in the bathroom before heading back to KITT. That was when he started hearing people talking.

'Whoever was driving that car should've been booked for doing that! Where are the police when you need them?' One woman said.

'Did you see that two-toned trans-am? It nearly hit a family! Can you believe that?!'

'People who have cars like that are always trouble!' Others put their two cents worth in.

Michael's ear pricked at the mention of the trans-am, he had known a car that fit that description once, but it had been destroyed he had made sure of that. It had been a trouble maker too and despite the fact that he knew they couldn't be the same he decided to go and ask someone about what had happened after he made sure Ashley was sitting comfortably inside KITT.

'Hey, I keep hearing about this trans-am what's going on?' He asked a young lady that had been standing nearby.

'Oh yeah, I'm assuming you know the basics? Some trans-am, a lot like yours there actually, except it was two-toned. It was coming out of the parking lot when it nearly hit a family that had been walking, I heard the tyres screech as it came to a stop before rushing off as soon as the people were out of the way. It left those skid marks over there, see?' He nodded.

'Yeah, thanks.'

'All good, I just hope that creep gets into trouble the next time he tries something stupid like that.'

'Yeah... Me too.' He nodded then said goodbye before walking over to where the marks had been left on the asphalt. 'Hey KITT, scan these for me would ya pal?' He squatted down beside them.

'Certainly Michael.' The car scanned the tracks and analysed the tread. Seconds later he found a rather scary fact about them. 'Michael... Those tracks... They match my tread!'

'What?! But that's nothing possible!' The man was shocked as he stood up.

'I just double checked Michael and apparently it is possible!'

The man hurried back to his car and got in, still confused as to how this could be and his brain buzzed trying to come up with some sort of explanation as he attempted comprehend all this. He was so caught up in his own mind that he only shook himself from his thoughts when he felt a hand on his arm.

'Dad, what was all that about? What does this mean?' Ashley asked concerned.

'It means we need to get you away from here and back to the Riders.' He replied then drove KITT out of the car park and headed for her foster family's house.

'B-But I don't wanna go back!' She said remembering what had been happening when Michael arrived there this morning.

'I know and I can understand why, but... I'm afraid you're going to have to.'

'Aw!' She pouted, then turned to look out the window.

'What actually happened then anyway? I know you wouldn't do something like that just to be popular.'

'You're right... I did it to get revenge on Hailey. Every day at school since AI started there she's been mean to me, she plays pranks on me, she teases me, she humiliates me and I just wanted her to know how it feels.'

'And how did you feel after you did it and everyone was laughing at her?' He asked.

'Well... Kinda good and kinda bad. I felt bad because she got really upset and that made me sad, but I also felt good because now she knew what it was like and I got to see both sides of the story. I've been both the victim and the bully so I realise how it works both ways and... I'm sorry for what I did to Hailey.'

'Well when you get, back why don't you tell her that?' Her father suggested she stared at him shocked.

'Are you crazy?! I can't toe that yet! She won't even look at me now!'

'Then just wait until she cools off a little then go talk to her.'

'Ok.' She sighed. 'Um... Dad?'

'Yes Ash?'

'What is up with this other car? Is it bad or something?'

'I don't know for sure, but it could be bad, yes.'

'Oh... Why?'

'I'll explain next time I come and see you.' He replied as the pulled up in front of the Riders house.

'When are you coming back again?'

'Soon, I promise.'

'I'll miss you.' She murmured sadly as she leant over into his seat and hugged him.

'I'll miss you too.' He wrapped his arms around her gently and held her to him for a while, just enjoying having her with him before he wouldn't get to see her for another month.

He hated that thought. The idea that someone else would have custody and responsibility for his daughter while he was side lined! It just wasn't fair! How could the board do this to him?! How could Jennifer allow this?! He wondered angrily, but then he banished all of those thoughts from his head as he felt something on his cheek.

He looked at Ashley who grinned at him and that was when he realised what she'd done, she given him a little kiss! He smiled at her then returned the present of sorts by kissing her forehead.

'Do I have to back? Can't I go home with you?' She asked.

'I wish you could, but we'd both get into a lot of trouble if you did. So I'm sorry, but you have to stay here.'

'Fine...' She grumbled, getting back into her own seat then opening the door. 'Bye KITT, great to see you again.'

'Bye Ashley.' The AI replied.

'Bye Dad.'

'Bye Ash.' Michael waved then he and KITT watched the young girl go back inside the house before they drove off.

'So what do you think about those tracks and that car from this morning, Michael?' KITT asked.

'I don't know... But I have a bad feeling about them.'


	35. Chapter 33

**Hey guys, chapter 33 is here! I hope you like it and thank you to hayknight for your comment on the last chapter!**

The weekend then passed without a hitch with all of the family managing to get along, though tensions still existed between Ashley and Hailey and the two of them tried to avoid each other as much as possible. Indeed Ashley had been looking forward to to Monday and now it was finally here.

In fact it was the end of the day and she hadn't been pranked or picked on or laughed at all day! Yes she had hung out with Ruth and played hide and seek with her, Mathew and Kevin. She and Kevin had become friends now that they sat on the same table, especially since he was already Mathew's friend and he was turning out to be a pretty nice guy.

Anyway, things had changed a little since the incident with the glue on Hailey's chair as now Ashley didn't have to go straight home on Mondays anymore! She had a suspicious feeling it had something to do with trying to keep the girls separated from each other as much as possible. So now that martial arts had just finished, Ashley was going to Amber's house for the afternoon and she just couldn't keep the grin off her face!

After picking out some takeout as they arrived at her large house Amber decided to ask, 'So, is there anything special you'd like to do? Any games?'

Ashley thought for a moment, then she remembered a particular game she had enjoyed playing.

'Can we play Uno again?' She asked still feeling a little shy about asking for things.

'Sure, standard ruleset or slightly different?' Amber inquired as they sat down in the living room with their food and grabbed some board games as well, 'Don't worry about getting the cards or pieces greasy, I have extras. Anyways, how would you like to try learning these boardgames better after are game?'

'Lets do the slightly different rules and ok, I'd like to learn the others.' She nodded smiling. 'So, how are we going to change the rules?'

'It's generally the same except say you put down a Draw Four over my Draw Two, instead of four I'd have to draw Six. And the other thing is if neither of us have a card to put down then we're required to draw cards until we can.' Amber smiled, 'If you'd like I could add a second deck into the first and another time perhaps some custom uno cards for more options and colours.'

'Sounds good.' Ashley replied. So they got an extra deck and added it to the other cards as well as creating a few cards of their own before they started playing.

Ashley loved playing Uno this way, in fact she enjoyed the new rules more than the old one and once they were finished Amber taught her how to be better at playing Sorry, Chess and even Scrabble! The young girl enjoyed herself quite a bit, but there was something she hadn't done yet and she was hoping her teacher would let her.

'Um... Miss K? I-I was wondering if... I could use the computer and say hi to your friend?'

'Go ahead, he's not here at the moment but is linked to any messages sent from the computer. He will however get back to you as soon as he's able to.' Amber gave her permission as she cleaned up the mess and put away some of the games, though left some boxes out just incase they decided to play again soon.

The girl grinned then jumped up and went over to the computer where she eagerly began typing on the keyboard. She knew that Amber's friend, whoever he might be, wouldn't answer her straight away, but that doesn't mean that she was any less excited to talk to him again.

"Hello again! I'm sure you probably know who I am, but in case you aren't sure it's Ash. I know that would be pretty obvious given that Miss K wouldn't be so weird when she talks to you, unlike me, but I just can't help it and now... Oh gosh I'm rambling sorry. Um... Anyway... I guess that's it, bye."

Once she was done she sat back and sighed. She really wanted him to respond, but Amber had said he was busy and even when he did get time to answer her message what would he say? She sounded like an idiot and to be honest she felt like one too. Why did she even bother when every time she went to talk to him she did something stupid? It's a wonder Amber even let her use the computer.

Soon however the computer binged alerting of a reply, "How's school young one?"

"Good I guess... Though I nearly got a detention for pranking my sister."

"I'm sorry I can stay on long lest my signal is discovered by my brother, but don't let it get to you. Tell your teacher the truth about why you did it, and in turn said sister may likely explain her actions thus then you can both apologize next time you're in class. Take care."

Amber smiled on watching her talk to the AI, secretly KARR, 'Hey, would you happen to know how expensive Hailey's skirt was and her size? I don't mind taking you shopping to get a replacement which may help ease the tension between you two and your adoptive family. What else would she might like?'

Ashley typed her goodbye then turned to look at the young woman who had asked her the questions.

'I'm not sure, I'd have to ask her, thanks for the offer though. I appreciate... Hang on. How do you know what I did? I never told you! It was them wasn't it? The Riders told you, didn't they?!' Her eyes flashed dangerously as she spat out the surname of her adoptive family.

Amber shook her head, 'Nope. Rather, it was just who you were taking to. I believe he just gave you a hint about himself and a related family member.' The young girl's expression turned thoughtful.

'He mentioned his brother, but... He's an AI how can he...? Unless they were created by the same person, but how am I supposed to know what his brother has to do with anything?' She sighed. 'I'm not very smart.'

Amber glanced at her comlink before Ashley's, 'Why don't you ask them then?' She gestured to the comlinks though said no more instead pulling out Scrabble yet again as she took her seat to play.

Ashley stared down at her comlink, should she take her advice and ask her real family or should she ignore it and just play scrabble? She decided to ask.

'KITT?' She asked into her comlink.

'Hello Ashley, how was school today?' The AI's voice asked.

'Pretty good, but I need to ask you a question.'

'Go ahead, what do you want to know?'

'Well... I was wondering if you ever... I don't know... Had a brother? Or a car that had been made similar to you?'

At first her only answer was a stunned silence, then however the AI seemed to find his voice.

''Well in a matter of speaking yes, he was my predecessor, FLAG created him before me. In fact Bonnie was also his mechanic, she practically created him the way she did me, except I had a few more upgrades and slightly different design being the younger "brother".'

'What's he like?' She asked curious and interested to see if his description was anything like Amber's friend.

'He was...Older and...A lot like me actually accept of course that was more on-par with human relations and if I'm honest he was great...'

'What happened to him?'

'He had an accident one day when he was running a track test, what happened wasn't his fault, but the Foundation decided that he was "unstable" and decided to shut him down so he was deactivated. I've never hated anyone before, but that was the closest that I've ever come to it; I've never forgiven what the Foundation did.'

'Oh, I never...' She trailed off. 'Thanks KITT.'

'That's alright Ashley.' He replied and the conversation was ended.

She looked to Amber. 'So your friend is KITT's brother?!'

Amber nodded smiling, 'However for the time being it is better he stay out of sight of his brother. At least until they're, his family; FLAG, is willing to listen to his side of the story... Which doesn't seem to be any time soon.' Amber seemed a bit sad at that, though she continued with the scrabble game.

KARR had been keeping out of sensor range for the most part, though he had wanted to return to his recharge station in the garage he had to wait until KITT's radius moved. He growled slightly, having to leave his fast food parking spot early on sensing his oil leaking leaving behind a small puddle thus he headed to a nearby Gas Station which included a small Mechanic's shop. He then considered about calling his partner, his driver.

Before he did though, he made sure that he was definitely out of the range of his brothers range and upon establishing that he was he decided to make the call.

'Amber? I am sorry to have to call you, but I am at a Gas Station and I'm leaking oil. Given the recent activity of my brother I don't think it is wise for me to come back until I am no longer leaking something he could trace me with.'

Amber understood replying that she would meet up with him soon even if he had to moved from his current spot due to his brother, then looked to Ashley. 'Will you be alright while I go tend to him for five-ten minutes? Of course I'll be back real soon.' She then added, 'By the way that's not how his voice normally sounds.'

'I'll be alright.' She nodded, before glancing over at her bag remembering that she had homework to do anyway. 'I'm assuming that the normal "home alone" rules still apply here?'

Amber nodded on setting up a few things, amongst closing window curtains before she went off to find her buddy using her project ride.

At the same time KITT was concerned he had been thinking over the past few days about what had happened in the beach car park, how could those tyre treads be an exact match to his? Only one other car had those tyres and he had been blown up! Unless... No, it wasn't possible. KARR was for all intents and purposes dead. So how-

'Michael!'

Devon's voice rang out through the mansion!

'Uh oh...' Michael soon appeared in his office looking concerned.

'Michael what is the meaning of this?!' He held up a slip of paper.

'What is that?' The young man asked walking over to see.

'This, Michael, is a speeding fine!' He replied angrily.

'What?! But I never speed! Or at least not when there are cameras or police around...!' He denied.

'Then why did we get sent this?'

'I don't know!'

'I'll have to ground you for this Michael.' Devon said putting the fine down on his desk and looking at his employee sternly.

'What do you mean "ground me?" I'm not a child Devon, I can come and go as I please!'

'Not in KITT, you can't!'

'But Devon I swear-!'

'Don't try to deny it, the evidence is all here. Except...' He stared at the paper confused for a moment.

'What is it?' Michael asked.

'It says here that it was a two-tones trans-am. KITT isn't two-toned.'

'Wait, a two-toned trans-am that was caught speeding?! That sounds like the one everyone was talking about at the beach!'

'What do you mean?'

'When I took Ashley to the beach on Staturday I heard about an incident involving a two-toned trans-am that nearly ran over a family when exiting the parking lot and after skidding to a halt to avoid hitting the people he left skid marks. Once everything had died down a little I got curious and asked KITT to identify the tread...'

'And?'

'And it was an exact match with KITT's tyres!'

'What?! That shouldn't be possible!'

'I know! But... Let's think about this Devon, there's only one other car with tyres that matched KITT's and he was a two-toned trans-am! Maybe-'

'Michael you destroyed KARR, there's no way he could be back!'

'But it would explain everything!'

'You're right... Fine. I want you and KITT to go back to California and check this out immediately.'

'You've got it Devon.' He nodded and headed to the door.

'And Michael!' He turned to look at the Englishman expectantly. 'Be careful.'

'I will Devon, don't worry.'

With that he left.


	36. Chapter 34

Amber and KARR arrived home about ten minutes later to find Ashley sitting in the living room just finishing her homework. She looked up when she heard the door open and grinned at Amber.

'Hi!' She then moved slightly to look past the woman toward where she knew the garage to be. 'Is he ok?'

'No, not really. There's only so much I can do.' The young woman answered, 'Like his brother there is only one place he can refill a certain fuel, so he unfortunately cannot go too far from FLAG headquarters. Both cars can and would be essentially mobile time bombs should they not get their refills when required.'

'Would you like to see him?' Amber asked the young girl. She nodded eager to see her friend's brother.

'Yes please.'

Amber lead her guest into the garage to meet him. 'Might want to keep this quiet when you're around KITT's driver...'

She really didn't know what to expect, but she was surprised when she walked and saw what was sitting in the middle of the garage: it was a very KITT-like trans-am, right down to the tires and rims. The only noticeable differences were the amber scanner and the car's bottom half silver which also trailed over the wheel wells.

'Surprised?' It asked.

'Y-You're like KITT...'

'I am the Knight Automated Roving Robot, KARR if you prefer.'

'So you're the one I was talking to through the computer.' She realised admiring the car.

'Yes.'

The young girl cautiously walked over to the car, her eyes scoured his body, taking in his smooth silver and black paintwork and looking at his Amber scanner. She almost wanted to reach out and touch it, in fact...

'Careful. My molecular bondage isn't functional.' KARR sighed, she pulled her hand back, unlike her he knew he was a mess currently. 'I don't understand. Why try to kill me? I never intentionally hurt anyone. I admit I did help two petty thieves with robberies but they did essentially save me from being abandoned, upon reactivating me. I was indebted to both of them.'

'Kill you? Who would want to kill you?' Ashley asked confused, before glancing at Amber who continued to watch her pal as he talked, not really listening to the girl as she tried to comprehend what he was talking about.

'Bonnie... mother. I do regret having to had kidnap her, but consider the circumstances. I needed repairs, Michael with KITT after me to destroy me and my core-programming being Self-Preservation...' KARR seemed both rather upset and frustrated. 'I know I've caused the death of some technicians, though much of that was in panic due to my programming. Essentially like the Fight-or-Flight instinct that you organic beings have. In the end I payed my time in that empty laboratory which ended up being jail for me. I believe I was to have been bailed earlier, however it seems as if FLAG had forgotten me. Still, hadn't I have already served my time? So why the attempted murder?'

'A-Attempted murder?! Kidnapping Bonnie?! What are you talking about?!' She stared at him in utter confusion.

'That wasn't the first time they left me to die, they don't realize however that my brother and I are linked. If one of us dies, the other would soon follow.' KARR stated, "Perhaps you should ask them whether they've ever wondered why KITT had been easily brought back from the times he was nearly destroyed?'

'I heard KITT was nearly destroyed, but wait a second what do you mean they left you to die? I know KITT wouldn't allow that and neither would his driver! I-'

'I need to rest now if you don't mind.' He went into recharge mode.

Ashley once again looked at Amber, anger, confusion, shock and outrage written clearly across her face. Without a word she pushed past Amber and headed out to the door into the living room where she grabbed her school back then walked to the front door.

'Get me out of here. I want to go home! Now!'

Amber took her back to the Riders, 'I suspect you need some time to go over what her told you, take care. And remember, keep quiet whenever Michael's with KITT. By the way, my shopping offer still stands.'

'Thanks, I'll think about it.' She replied getting out of the car and going inside, slamming the door behind her.

She then went straight to her room where she shut the door, threw her bag across the room and flopped on to her bed. She had told her that she wanted to go home, this wasn't home. This... Well she didn't really know what it was, but it wasn't home and it never would be.

She had still gone to dinner that night, but she wasn't as talkative as normal. In fact she said nothing at all. Any questions she was asked she merely replied with either a nod or a shake of the head and when asked why she wouldn't talk she didn't give her "parents" any kind of response.

That night when she went to bed she decided to call KITT, she needed someone to talk to and she wanted reassurance that the KITT she knew and loved wasn't one that would leave his brother somewhere to die. Of course he would never do something like that, KARR, or whatever he called himself, had to be lying. He just had to be.

Two days later Michael and KITT weren't having any luck in their investigation and had so far come up with nothing when Bonnie called to tell them about a strange problem she had noticed.

'Michael, can talk to you and KITT for a moment?' She asked appearing on KITT's monitor.

'Sure Bons, what's up?' Michael replied from behind the wheel of KITT.

'Well, you and KITT weren't taking extra fuel before you left, were you?'

'What? No, why?'

'Because some of it is missing.'

'How much?'

'Enough for a full tank.'

'Someone else must have taken it.' The man reasoned.

'But Michael, why would someone else steal fuel? It can only be used by me.' The AI pointed out.

'That's not quite true KITT.' Bonnie shook her head. 'I've heard the rumours and if you recall KITT, KARR also used the same type of fuel.'

'That's true... But how could he be back? We destroyed him! I saw him explode! You saw him explode, Michael!'

'Michael that's true, pal, but what if there is a way he did manage to survive.'

'I suppose it could be possible... But highly unlikely.'

'I don't know pal, it's looking more and more likely as this mystery goes on.'

'I agree, it has to be KARR, it all fits!' Bonnie exclaimed.

'KARR or not I think it's safe to say we need to find the answer to all this and fast.' Michael nodded determined.

When the time came Ashley didn't want to go to martial arts, she didn't want to see her teacher again, nor her lying friend. However Teagan and Jackson made it painfully clear that she didn't have a choice.

'Ashley you have to go, there's no one else who can look after you.' Teagan said.

'Then why can't I just stay here?' She asked.

'Because we don't want you stay home on your own.' Jackson replied.

'But-'

'No but's young lady, now go and get your things ready for school.' Jackson instructed and Ashley sighed before begrudgingly going and doing as she was told. However as she put her books together she heard a knock on her door.

'Come in.' She murmured grumbling.

'Hey, you ok?' It was Mathew.

'Yes, I'm fine.'

'You sure? You don't seem like it.' He said sceptical and walked into her room.

'Well things are always as they seem.'

'True, but I think they are in this case.' He put his hand on her shoulder. 'You've been upset ever since Monday when you came home from your teachers house... Did she do something to make you angry?'

'No.' She shook her head before pushing her foster brother back away from her and picking up her books. 'Come on, let's just get to school.'

Mathew sighed and walked out, he didn't like seeing Ashley upset and the fact that she wouldn't tell him what was wrong worried him. He had thought that she liked going over to her teachers house up until Monday when she came home grumpy and now he wondered if she had done something mean.

School went alright, though Mr Cole was a little concerned when she didn't seem like her normal happy self. Still she didn't really mind, she just focused on getting through the day and when it came to martial arts she did what any girl that hates her teacher would do; she skipped it.

Instead of going to class she went to the park instead and decided to stay there until she knew she could go back to the Riders where she planned to hide in her room for the rest of the evening until she was forced to go to dinner. She had a feeling that Amber would probably call the Riders and tell them, then she would get into trouble, but to be perfectly honest she didn't care. She didn't want to hear anymore lies about her best friend and brother.

Amber gave the children that were in class a quick lesson then some fun homework, promising that she would make it up to them at a later date on having to close up early. Then headed to the park, on finding the young girl she scanned the park for any signs of trouble. Ashley sighed as she saw her.

'Why can't you just leave me alone?'

'It's my job as a police officer.' Amber stated. 'So, did you happen to get any answers from KITT?'

'What does it matter? It's hardly your concern anyway, it's not like you really know KITT, or me, or anyone in my family so stop pretending you do! Ok?!' She demanded fuming before she angrily kicked a nearby soda can.

'Nobody's pretending,' Amber sighed, on detecting nothing out of the ordinary including possible eavesdroppers decided to tell the young girl one of her secrets, 'I do also happen to work for Knight Industries. The higher-up authority and parent company to FLAG; the Foundation for Law and Government.'

'I've heard of Knight Industries, it was created by Wilton Knight, they're the ones who built KITT and KARR before they, or rather KITT, was given to FLAG... And some of the higher up people in that company are members of that stinking board.' She growled.

'I may not have yet met KITT but I do go over his and FLAG's reports that get sent.'

'That proves nothing, it's not like KITT puts any of his personality into his reports.' The young girl rolled her eyes.

'Come along, I'll take you shopping and we could get ice cream if you'd like.' Amber suggested, then mentioned '...Although, I would like to meet KITT personally.'

Ashley nearly chocked on her own saliva! Amber meet KITT?! Was she crazy?! Michael had already come to see her this month and as if he would ever actually introduce her to KITT, her dad didn't even know she did martial arts much less trust her teacher! No matter what other job she had!

'Fine, I'll go with you, but trust me the chances that you actually get to meet KITT are...' She shut her mouth upon seeing an all too familiar black trans-am! Immediately she brought her comlink to her mouth. 'KITT?!'

'Ashley what are you doing here?' Her "brothers" voice came back to her.

'I would ask you the same question!'

'Devon sent us here to check some stuff out.' Michael joined the conversation, making Ashley's heart sing as she heard her fathers voice.

'Hey Michael! I've mi-'

'Who were you standing with when we drove past?' He asked, cutting her off.

'No one.' She replied looking at Amber while keeping her voice steady to make out she wasn't lying.

'Oh come on Ashley, KITT and I saw you standing and talking with a woman now who is she?'

'No one, I just accidentally bumped into her and I was apologising alright? Anyway I have things to do so I'll see you around Michael, bye KITT.' She said then turned off her comlink.

Amber smiled on watching the custom trans am drive by, continuing on with her patrol duties for any suspicious activity. She then went up to Ash, 'Would you still like to go shopping?'

'Sure, why not?' She replied shrugging. 'Let's just get going.' The two of them went to the mall and started looking around, Ashley knew exactly where to go for what she needed to fix or at least stabilise her relationship with her foster family. So she made a "b-line" for a shop that sells school uniforms. 'So, Hailey needs a black skirt, size 13. Mathew told me since when I asked Hailey she refused to even acknowledge my existence.' She said bitterly and rolled her eyes. 'Think you can help me find one?'

'Of course.'

'Then let's do this.' She said and they walked around the store.

'Feel free to get yourself something as well.' Amber treated the child and herself with buying clothing and finding a couple black skirts in the correct size though made in different fabrics, with slightly different styles.

'Thank you.' Ashley gave the woman a small smile as she payed for the clothes. 'I appreciate this.'

Soon after Amber had helped wrap the "present" they headed to the mall's food court and got something, amongst ice creams. Despite the relatively calm atmosphere the young girl could sense that the woman was always alert and watching everything that was going on around them. In someways it was comforting to know she was keeping an eye out for trouble, but in others it was beginning to unnerve her.

'You know out of all the weird stuff that has happened to me over that past few months meeting you and going through all this has to be the weirdest. No offence.' Ash said in between licking her strawberry flavoured ice cream.

Amber smiled, checking her watch. 'It's no trouble. We still have some time left, anything you'd like to do here? After I could introduce you some other pets of mine and animals I foster.'

'You foster animals?! That's so cool I have to meet them! But now that you mention it there is one thing I'd like to do first...'

-/-/-

**Hmmm... I wonder what Ashley wants to do? Come back and find out next time! Where we will continue with the story and discover more about what is going on in my land of Knight Rider! Btw I am loving all of the positive reviews, thanks guys! Bye!**


	37. Chapter 35

Ash had wanted to go to the bookstore ever since she had arrived at the Riders, she really needed something to do apart from homework, watching tv, playing with the dog and talking with her brother. She needed her own space to do something she enjoyed and reading just so happened to be one of those things.

So Amber bought her a copy of the first Harry Potter book along with Narnia The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. Ashley was ecstatic by the time the two of them got back to the car and headed home to Amber's place.

'Oh my gosh! I can't believe this! I actually have books that aren't school related! For the first time ever!' The young girl held the novels tightly against her chest as if she never wanted to let go of them. 'I know that must sound weird to you.' She murmured looking over to the young woman driving.

'Not really. Considering I didn't exactly have any books myself as a child.' Amber noted, on deciding to stop by the pet store on the way out to check on the animals and whether it had fallen to a scam about a certain animal being a new breed or mixed breed dog, cat, or otherwise as said scams weren't so uncommon now.

Once inside she looked around at all the animals until she came to what she knew to be a dingo puppy, as she was looking at it one of the staff came over to talk to her about it.

'Cute, isn't he? We just got him a few days ago, the man said he was a new breed of dog.' She smiled as she watched the dingo pup from behind the glass.

'Any buyers or previous complaints from buyers about previous adoptions?' Amber inquired, 'Also, would you happen to have any information on the provider?'

'We did have one complaint now that you mention it and I think I do have the name of the provider written in a file, I'll go and get it for you, but first I must ask who you are?'

Amber looked closer in the case and saw another puppy, almost identical but still different. She knew it to be a New Guinea Singing Dog, still she continued with her questionnaire on informing them that she was a police officer and they had unfortunately fallen to a scam, and to get as much information as possible of previous adopters to check up with the families.

So the staff member kept her word and gave her all the files on the subject and was very relieved when Amber offered to help them keep their good reputation on her taking custody of the two pups, and offering replacements with some real puppies she just so happened to be fostering.

'Thank you Officer Karr, we really appreciate your help in this, we had no idea about the scam.'

'Thank you for your cooperation, I'll come by later in the week with the puppies.' She said on picking up the Singing Dog puppy, her other arm full with the papers, she smiled at Ashley. 'Hmm... Think you could help with carrying the other puppy?'

'Of course.' Ash carefully picked up the Dingo puppy and they took the puppies to car then returned to Amber's house.

Back at her home she let the two pups play as she brought out two of her current fosters, one being a Coyote puppy and the other being a fairly young true Red Fox. Ashley grinned and patted them to her hearts content, rather surprised by the animals friendliness, until she remembered a certain someone that she hadn't been to say hello to.

'KARR?' She asked as she cautiously walked into the dimly lit garage.

'What is it?' He questioned, on having recently come out of recharge. He hated empty room spaces due to his incarceration, he couldn't keep the slight tone out of his voice. Sighing, he made the room brighter showing that on closer inspection he had sections of paint missing revealing the base white, others had what looked like bad burn marks amongst some melted areas. Including some dents, the most recent on his bumper with chips of blue paint from the car he roughly hit back when she and her father were playing at the beach.

'I... I-I just wanted to come and say hello...' She gulped as she observed the car. 'And I was wondering... Since Bonnie is technically your mother... I thought you would be the best one to ask about whether or not she would accept knowing the truth about me?' She asked fidgeting with her nervously hands.

'Though much off my systems are damaged, I suspect she would accept.' KARR seemed to fidget, due to the empty space, 'I need attention from her. I wish to apologize to her, but do not want to be attacked.' He let out a low snarl.

Ashley trembled slightly at the noise the car had made. 'You were serious about what you said before, weren't you? My family tried to kill you...! But why? I don't understand!' She shook her head violently. 'You've got be lying! KITT wouldn't do something like this and neither would Michael!'

'Unfortunately it's true. I was the first, I'm the prototype. So I have reason to despise them.' His amber scanner swayed to and fro rapidly, though some sections on the right side of his scanner were dark. Amber then walked in and patted the dash, not unlike how Michael would've with KITT.

'I...owe my life to him. Ever since I was four-years old.'

'No offence, but... How can you owe your life to a car?' She asked skeptical. She could understand it in the way that both she and Michael owed their lives to KITT as he had saved them on different occasions, Michael several more times than her of course, but how could this "KARR" have saved Amber when she was four?

Amber laughed a little at that, 'I ran away from my adoptive family at that age. I had lived in the wilderness since, I came across him while attempting to find or catch food. But being as young as I was, that wasn't easy.'

'Wait... So you're an orphan... Like me...' She trailed off, staring blankly at the space in front of her.

'Yes, though I know my real father by name. Anyways, we should focus at the task on hand.' Amber confirmed. 'KARR needs help and soon. 'Hey, Ashlyn? I believe KITT thinks KARR is dead, though would you find out if he and his driver had another chance to help KARR instead would they take it?'

'Of course I will, but I'm not sure if KITT's driver would listen to me if I told him what really happened... I used to think he'd always listen to me, but that went out the window when the accident happened... Still, I'll try, I'm sure KITT will listen.'

Amber shook her head, 'Well, let KITT do the talking with his driver then. Maybe he can convince him.'

'Maybe.' She nodded. 'But I don't know how fast I will be able to convince him to ask his driver to help, much less how long it will take for the driver to say yes to helping KARR.' She sighed and buried her face in her hands. 'This all too crazy.'

KARR decided then to tell her the story from his point of view from being reactivated by the petty thieves Rev and Tony, up to his last encounter with his brother and Michael at Garthe's rocket, which was the fourth. He even showed them both his video proof that was timestamped and somehow the least damaged of his systems. He also knew however that using his monitors would send a signal that would be picked up by his brother, thus he had to keep moving.

'Due to using my monitors, KITT may be here soon lest we move as they are one of my sensor devices.' KARR stated.

Upon deciding that they weren't ready for KITT to find car girls got into the car and Amber drove out of the garage. While KARR seemed glad to get out, Ash couldn't have been feeling more caged in.

Everything she knew was... Well... Not a lie, but over half the story of her family was missing. How could they keep something like this from her? Why didn't they tell her everything? How could they do something like this to KARR? It just didn't seem like them at all! But then again... Did she really know them?

She looked to Amber and opened her mouth to speak, however nothing came out and she decided to close her mouth and just stare out of KARR's windscreen. What could she say now? All of a sudden this woman, who she knew very little about, and her car had told her all this and she had no idea about it. Absent-mindedly she held onto her comlink with her other hand as if just holding it could somehow could bring her closer to Michael and give her answers as to why?

There was one other question she wanted answered.

'Why did you bring me into this? Why couldn't you have just left me be?'

It was KARR that spoke up, 'One, you are my sister thus family. Believe it or not I do care about them, especially my younger brother. I heard you talking with KITT through your comlink about what happened on the test track. It was no accident, one technician installed a virus in me that caused me to kill my would-be driver on swerving to avoid hitting a child that had wandered onto the course.

'Of course nobody would listen, let me get a word in save for my younger brother.' He sighed, 'Due to our link I worry that he has contracted the virus, which starts dormant making it impossible to detect. And secondly, Amber is... Technically, my half-sister.'

'Half-sister? H-How? Actually never mind, don't answer that. I don't want to know.' She shook her head. 'How long do we have to drive for anyway so KITT won't find us, or rather you?' She asked looking at her brothers voice modulator.

'You should know the answer if you know KITT,'. KARR noted, 'He's persistent. And quite frankly, I am tired of hiding, running... I wish to try explain some things to Michael, but of course don't want to be attacked or deactivated before I get a chance...'

'You won't. I'll make sure of that.' The girl nodded. 'However I think I need to go home soon or my "parents" will get worried.' She rolled her eyes. 'I also need to give Hailey her present and see whether or not she accepts it, so do you think you could drop me off? I hate to just leave with KITT after you, but...' She sighed and shrugged her shoulders.

KARR made sure first of all that his brother's radius didn't touch his course to the Riders, upon determining the course less likely to risk detection he soon arrived. However, before he unlocked the doors he knew Amber had one thing to say: 'So, do you promise to come to your classes; else I may be forced to alert your foster family. Not that I'd even want to, but...'

'I know and yes, I promise to come to class.' She nodded, though her voice said she wasn't particularly pleased about it.

As KARR opened the door, he spoke up quick. 'Ash, I'm sorry if I frightened you back in the garage. It wasn't my intention to, so...' He tried to apologize to his little sister.

'It's alright, KARR. I know you didn't mean to.' She patted his dash then swung her legs out of the car and then exited, shutting the door behind her. 'So I'll see you guys on Thursday. Bye Amber... Bye big brother.'

The car purred, 'Take Care,' as Amber nodded waving to the child, however neither left until they were certain she was in the door. Once she was inside KARR sighed, 'I'm glad the two of you spent some time together today. All of this is going to be a lot on her. Especially when she finds out everything.'

'Indeed.' Amber gave him a small smile, 'On both accounts. Anyways, now it's my turn to treat you.' She then took him to a small machine shop, first giving him a hand wash. She took her time, being careful when at his wounds and burns.

The KARR hummed in contentment at feeling the dirt and grime being washed off him by his partner, though he hissed as the soapy water hit his sores.

After she temporarily patched up some spots with a paste normally used on normal cars, they both knew however that it wouldn't last long as KARR wasn't exactly a normal car. It just had to last long enough for Ashley to talk KITT into talking to Michael and Bonnie about not attacking KARR right away.

They both hoped the young girl would try to help them out quickly or things were only going to get worse.


	38. Chapter 36

**Hello my loyal readers, I must apologise PROFUSELY! I am so sorry that I haven't updated this in so long, but my life has been really crazy and I am sad to say my writing has suffered for it. However I am going to make it up, as of now I am going to be updating as regularly as I can so stay tuned for future chapters! By the way I really appreciate all of you who are sticking with this story and I hope you like this new chapter. One more thing, for those of you who are still reading this I just wanted to remind you to please consider reviewing because I love it and I need some warm fuzzies! Anyway here's chapter 36 I hope you enjoy it!**

-/-/-

Michael had been thinking, today was the 1st of September, meaning that in 7 days it would be the 8th. AKA KITT's birthday and so far they had done nothing for it. It concerned the man that his partner might be celebrating his birthday by searching for more signs of his supposedly dead older brother rather than taking time out and doing something he enjoyed.

He would have to ask Devon to give him and KITT the day off, but he didn't want KITT to know until the day so-

'Michael, I just picked up a signal coming from nearby, it matches KARR's!' The AI alerted him.

'Then we had better go and find him before he causes anymore trouble!' He stated before pressing his foot down on the accelerator. 'Plot me a course to intercept him!'

'Yes Michael.' After several beeps and clicks a plot appeared on his monitor and they raced to find the other car!

There was no sign of KARR at the house, they had just missed him. Though the house was locked up tight, the garage had been left open with nothing in sight save for what looked like a recharge station.

'Scan the place, won't you pal?' The car immediately obliged, however he seemed to have trouble performing the task.

'Michael, something is wrong. I can't pick up anything, it seems like there's interference.' He murmured.

'Well whoever owns this place sure doesn't want us to find out what's going on here. Still... Let's get out of here.' He sighed and they drove away.

When the two of them got to where they were staying KITT parked in the parking lot and Michael went up to his room in the hotel. When he was inside his room he turned off his comlink so KITT couldn't listen in to what he was about to do and made a phone call.

'Yo Devon!'

'Hello Michael, how are you?' The distinguished voice of his boss came through over the phone.

'I'm great, but I need to ask a favour.'

'Oh? And what is that you want now?'

'I need to have 8th off as a sort of vacation day.' He replied.

'The 8th? Of this month?' The Englishman asked surprised.

'Yes Devon, the 8th of September.' Michael clarified, believing that the date was obviously during the current month.

'But Michael, you can't afford a day off! You still need to find Durant and see if KARR is truly active once again!' Michael bristled at the name of his arch enemy.

'I know, but the 8th is KITT's birthday!'

The Englishman sighed. 'Very well Michael, we do owe KITT a break on his birthday, but I expect the two of you to be working again the very next day.'

'You've got it Devon.' Michael replied, grinning madly as he hung up. This was going to be great!

'What was all that about?' Bonnie asked as she walked into her boss's office.

'Michael and KITT are having a day off on the 8th to celebrate-'

'KITT's birthday!' The brunette grinned upon remembering that her "son's" birthday was coming up.

'Yes.' Devon nodded, a small smile on his lips. 'Now have you found anymore on Durant?'

'No. I've checked for any activity by his previous alter ego's and the only one that's being used is the one we already know about.'

'I see, well keep trying, look for another connection between Durant and Baxter we need to get the both of them back into prison.'

Bonnie nodded and walked out, she hoped they were able to find them and take the two criminals down soon.

The next day was Thursday, the 2nd, but today proved to be very different from previous Thursdays. Ash had gone to class, like she promised, and went home with Amber. The two of them had spent the afternoon helping Ashley with her homework along with playing board games when the work had been completed. Seven o'clock came all too soon for Ashley and that was when Amber received a phone call.

'Hello?' She asked into the phone.

'Amber? It's Teagan, I just wanted to let you know that my husband and I have just got home with our other children and we would appreciate it if you could bring Ashlyn home, if it's not too much trouble.'

Amber peeked out a window with the wireless phone, 'Alright. Though, we may be a bit late due to rather heavy traffic...' Though something didn't feel quite right with her about this she didn't let it show in her voice, after a few more words and hanging up she turned to her comlink, 'Did you happen to intercept another call while I was on the phone?'

'Indeed I did, I traced it back to the hospital.' The voice replied.

Amber looked over at Ashlyn, 'Find out if the Riders' children have been dropped off at home. If not alert them to meet us at Whitewater Prep.'

'What's going on?' Ashlyn asked confused. 'My parents just asked you to drop me home, didn't they? What's wrong with that?'

'While I was on the phone with your "parents" my friend intercepted a message from the hospital; it was about the Riders having been in a hit-and-run car accident, so if they're in the hospital whoever called from the house is an impostor.' Amber tried to explain.

The definition for the word came over the comlink, 'An impostor is a person who practices deception under an assumed character, identity, or name.'

'I know what it means!' She huffed, grabbing her bag. 'Wait!'

'What?' Amber asked.

'What about Prince? These people, they might hurt him!' She remembered worrying. 'I don't want Prince getting hurt, he's my best friend and he was a present from my last family!'

'Pet I assume?' Ashlyn nodded. 'And, the other tipoff with that phone call was they said "our other children" instead of simply "our children."' Amber concluded. The two of them went to the garage where KARR was waiting for them, he already had his doors open so the girls could just get in and get going. As they drove down the road Ashlyn looked to Amber.

'So how is this going to work? Are we going to the school or to the house?'

'The school, there we pick up your siblings.' She replied. Ash nodded silently, she hoped her siblings and beloved puppy were alright... KARR's voice then brought her forth from her thoughts.

'Your comlink, ask him about if he remembers our times together before my so-called accident, and how he feels about leaving me to die those two-four times I've showed you? Meanwhile I'll be on silent mode.' KARR requested of Ashlyn, his vox like KITT's yet with the outer two lines inverted and amber flashed in sync with his voice.

'Well... Ok.' The girl nodded, bringing her comlink up closer to her face before talking into it. 'KITT?'

'Hello Ashley, how are you?' Her brother's voice came through.

'I've been better to be honest, but that wasn't why I called... I wanted to ask more about your brother.'

'Oh... Alright then. Ask away.'

'I was wondering what you remember of him, before the "accident."'

'I see... I recall we used to get into a little trouble, he and I... At the time we were virtually identical... We used to play pranks on Bonnie and some of the other technicians.' The a chuckle came over the comlink. 'We'd use each other's voice program and tint our windows so they wouldn't know which one of us was which.'

Ash smiled, it seemed like the two brothers had been close before things came to an abrupt stop on the test track, hearing of their antics was definitely bitter sweet as it emphasised how the incident had ruined their relationship.

'It sounds like fun.'

'It was...' A soft sigh was heard and Ashlyn could just picture the trans-am sinking down on his wheels and his scanner slowing to point of going at less than half the speed it normally would.

'KITT, I...' The girl tried to swallow the lump that had risen in her throat. She couldn't bring herself to ask how he felt about killing his brother. 'I can't.' Her voice was barely a whisper so KITT wouldn't hear as she shook her head. 'I'm sorry I asked KITT... I'll leave you be. Thank you for answering my question.'

'It's ok Ashley... Thank you for caring.' He replied, trying to keep the emotion out of his voice.

'Always KITT.' She murmured before turning off her comlink. 'I'm sorry KARR... I couldn't ask him... Not when he was so likely break down.' She feared had she asked her friend would have started crying and given he always said he didn't feel emotions she knew it would have made him feel even worse.

Though he was in silent mode, he noted the new frequency his brother used.

KARR had pulled over to the shoulder of the road he was currently on, stalling his already quite damaged engine. He sent him a simple message, "Brother... Please, help."

There was nothing he could do now except wait, he played a memory he still had from back in the day.

KARR's voice here was undamaged, "To be one of a kind is very special... But to be two of a kind is special also."

"Yes. Perhaps even more special, KARR. Perhaps even more." Was his young brother's response.

They had apparently been enjoying a rather beautiful sunset over the ocean.

KARR sighed, all he wanted was to just be a family again.

KITT was saddened by his conversation with Ashlyn, he had been thinking about his big brother a lot lately and remembering the good times he had shared with KARR before things went badly actually hurt. It was difficult to explain why, it just did. It made him feel guilty about killing him and leaving what was left of his brother behind. If there was a way to go back and change what had happened he would, of course he knew that was impossible.

The car had started to sigh only for it to hitch in his voice module as he received the message. He immediately checked the frequency that had been used and upon realising it was KARR he froze. His brother was alive! Not only was he alive he was asking for help! KITT wanted to give it to him, but... It was KARR, he may have been his brother, but he had done some terrible things. Still... Blood is thicker than water. He needed to call Michael.

Ash looked at Amber, as much as she hated that KARR was hurting both physically and emotionally she knew they needed to get going. Her "siblings" could be in danger after all.

'Amber, what about Mat and Hailey?' She asked concerned. 'We still need to meet them, and get Prince.'

Amber patted the dash as she got out, 'He... needs something of a jumpstart, he needs his brother right now. Soon as he gets it we can all work together at... gathering them.' Leaving the door open slightly, 'You might want to stay inside until they arrive. Might be time to request Bonnie's assistance...'

Amber then walked to his front, KARR at least would let her look under his hood though didn't want anything touched at the moment.

KARR apparently got agitated every time a gray SUV went by.

Ash frowned. Of all the times to have to get KITT it had to be now. Boy was she going to be in trouble for this, Michael would kill her! Reluctantly the girl called her father.

Ashley?'

'Dad?' She asked.

'Sweetheart, where are you? Are you alright? What's going on?' He asked, worry evident in his voice.

'I'm fine, but Mr and Mrs Rider have been injured in a hit and run accident and they are in the hospital, Amber thinks that there's something more to this and she went back to the house to get Prince she then called and told me to call KITT and tell him to-'

'You told someone about KITT? Ashley what did we tell you about that? KITT is supposed to be a secret! I thought you said we could trust you!' He said both angry and frustrated with his daughter.

'But Dad-'

'Who is this person?'

'Her name is Amber, she's my martial arts teacher.'

'You do martial arts?'

'Yes and-'

'What about your shoulder? You could hurt it!'

'Dad this isn't about me!' She almost shouted.

'What else did you tell her? Did you tell her your real name? Did you tell her about me?'

'No! Just bring Bonnie and come find me! KITT will pick KARR up on his signal, tell him to follow it, KARR needs help.' She ended their conversation angrily. 'I honestly hate him sometimes.'

'I don't blame you. How exactly are you supposed to try and explain things if he keeps interrupting you anyhow?' She shook her head.

Ashley was glad to see that they had listened to her when she saw another black trans am pull over behind them and a certain tall man and a shorter brunette woman got out of it. As soon as they did KARR closed his hood, and Ashlyn got out of the car and headed over to the others, trying to contain her happiness at seeing her family again.

Bonnie smiled and embraced the girl tenderly, she was so glad to see that she was alright and she only gripped her tighter when she saw KARR and Amber. Ashlyn wrapped her arms around her waist, gladly breathing in the technicians familiar smell and buried her face in her hair before looking to the man beside them.

'Oh Ashley I'm so happy to see you.' Bonnie cooed.

'I've missed you Bonnie.' The girl replied.

'I've missed you too.' She ran her hands through Ashlyn's soft wavy hair. 'How have you been? I heard about what happened, are you alright?'

'I'm fine.' She replied, nodding.

There was a relived smile on Michael's face as he watched his daughter hug his girlfriend, however that expression changed as he saw Amber get out of KARR and walk over to them. His eyes were cold and calculating as he surveyed her, from what he could see she was unarmed, but before he could ask KITT to make sure she was upon them.

'You must be Miss Amber.'

'Nice to meet you too.' She looked to him unfazed by his gaze before glancing back at the two AI's, 'Ashley's been doing rather well in the Martial Arts classes. I'm something of a nurse myself, and often it is recommended for exercising muscles through therapy after healing from a traumatic experience. Besides, wouldn't you actually want her to be able to defend herself from possible attacks?'

'Of course.' He nodded, though obviously angered. Amber then smiled lightly turning to the green-eyed brunette and the young girl.

'Hello I'm Doctor Bonnie Barstow, you'll have to excuse my co-worker he has forgotten his manners.' Bonnie glanced warningly at her boyfriend encouraging him to behave. 'It would seem that Ashlyn hasn't told us much about you, Miss Amber, I'm afraid we haven't spoken in a while.' It was at this comment that Ashlyn lowered her eyes to the ground and avoided looking at anyone.

'Sorry.' She murmured.

'It's not your fault.' Bonnie smiled, cheering her up.

'Do you what actually know happened to Mr and Mrs Rider? Somehow I don't think it was an accident.' Michael asked cutting to the chase.

'Sorry, no. But I have the distinct feeling it's related to what currently afflicts KARR.' Amber answered, looking back at the two brothers rather concernedly, shifting her weight to her other leg.

Their gaze followed Amber's to where KARR faced his brother, not quite nose-to-nose. His amber scanner obviously still having darkened sections from the time during their second encounter. He could sense the question about the technicians incident lingering on KITT, "Simple. Panic." KARR managed to get out on pushing back the virus...

'What's wrong with KARR?' Bonnie asked, staring at him.

'Virus. More specifically a prototype Nanovirus, it appears to be a rather aggressive one once active. I work with artificial intelligence on a daily basis.' Amber said, 'He's been fighting it so long that it slowly is destroying him from within.' She approached her buddy, kneeling in front of his scanner when her gentle touch caused him to flinch reversing away from them, looking back to Bonnie at the AI's reaction, 'This isn't him.'

'Indeed.' She took a step forward, but stopped when she felt Michael grip her hand. His eyes warning her to be careful, she nodded to show him that it was alright and slowly walked toward the car. She carefully laid a hand on his hood and she was shocked when she almost felt him tremble. 'KARR? It's ok, it's Bonnie, I promise I'm not going to hurt you.' She assured him quietly.

KARR cautiously watched his mother as she placed a gentle hand on his hood, however the placement was a little too close at his right headlight causing him a flashback...

He was smart in that driving on angle and timing it just right for Ski-mode, his scanner wouldn't be hit. Yet, the laser hit his right headlight which was too close to home for him. He could certainly see that it was his mother how fired the laser, he simply just couldn't believe it that she would do that to him...

He flinched, letting out a low growl as he reversed away ending up getting stuck in a ditch. 'Why?' Was all he could through their way, his voice genuinely saddened, hurt. Betrayed.

'Hurts...I'm very sick...I'm scared, I...' His voice a mixture of pure fright and rather pained, 'I don't want to die...'

Amber looked to them both sadly, 'He dies, so do I.' She took a deep breath, 'He saved me when I was only four-years old. I've done what I can to help him delay the virus but it's always adapting...'

Bonnie felt her heart ache, this wasn't the terrifying car that had threatened them in the semi, kidnapped her and been part of multiple crimes, nor was this the kind, loving KARR that she had helped to create all those years ago. No this was a new side of KARR, one she had never seen before, he was scared for his life. He thought he was going to die. However she had no intention of letting that happen.

'KITT.' She turned to look at the other car. 'Call Devon and have the Semi brought here.' She instructed.

'Yes Bonnie.' KITT replied, a small presence of relief in his voice. Bonnie then looked to Amber, sadness and determination in her emerald eyes. 'I will do whatever I can to help him.'

KARR hummed in response to them, when he tried to say something turned into an electronic "coughing" fit due to old loose sand bits roughly scratching his circuits some quite embedded in the tightest of places. The one word that could be made out was "Brother" with a hint of worry.

'Shhh Buddy, don't talk. I'm here I'm not going to leave ya.' Amber spoke calmly, gently patted the hood, 'He's... despite everything, always been more concerned about his little brother being afflicted by the same thing. It usually starts out dormant, causing it to be near impossible to detect until activated which by that time generally is too late...'. She sighed, caressing his shell, 'This version's just the prototype. Since then an upgraded one's been created; once the Semi's here I have something to show you all.'


	39. Chapter 37

**HELLO!**

**hayknight - Yes I am back, and it feels great! I'm glad to see you missed them and yes he is!**

**Now on with the chapter!**

-/-/-

When the semi arrived the group realised they had a problem, KARR had gotten himself stuck in a ditch when he backed away from them as they had tried to talk to him. Bonnie had only been trying to help and she felt terrible knowing that so much of his emotional trauma had been her fault, after all it had been her that had tried to kill him with the laser. Now however she wanted to make amends, but she only seemed to be making things worse.

Knowing that his brother trusted him more than any of the other, with the exception of Amber, KITT knew he would have to try and help KARR.

'KARR... My big brother... I'm sorry that I tried to kill you. That we, FLAG, could not see things from your perspective and instead tried to hurt you when you were just afraid and hurt... Please KARR, I'm asking you to trust me now. Let me help you.' He slowly drove toward the other car, being careful not to frighten him further.

KARR sighed, he wanted to accept what his brother was saying. 'What is to become of me?'

'To be honest KARR... I don't know.' KITT replied and in truth he didn't know, he doubted Devon would like that the other car was still alive, however KITT knew he wouldn't let anything happen to his older brother. They wouldn't be separated again. 'I promise that I won't let FLAG lock you up again, I'll make sure you're taken care of. I promise you that.'

'Promises...'. He growled, '_**Wilton Knight**_ promised me that I wouldn't be deactivated... So dark... time passes, differently. Alone. Silence. Empty.'

'Well Mr Knight is gone and I keep my promises. FLAG won't let anything happen to you. I won't let anything happen to you. You have my word KARR. Now let me help you... I'll use my grappling hook... If you are alright with me helping you, of course.'

'Very well.' KARR relented. Though he knew once he was on the Semi that Bonnie would need access under his hood to connect to certain machines, still... she was his mother as she was KITT's, even though she had tried to kill him once. 'One request, once at the garage. No restraints.' He knew Mr. Miles would prefer them, he just didn't know how he'd act if he was restrained.

'None.' KITT replied then aimed and launched his grappling hook, once it was attached he started to reverse and slowly and carefully pulled his brother out of the ditch. He felt bad when he heard the other car make a small noise of pain when his grappling hook attached itself to him, but he knew they weren't going to get him out any other way. It took him some time, but after a few slips where his wheels lost traction in the loose dirt, and some coaxing from the others he got KARR back up and out of the ditch. 'The semi will be here in seven minutes.'

As soon as KITT had helped KARR Ash had turned her back on the scene and walked to the edge of the road. She felt for the cars, she really did, but she was worried about Mathew and Hailey. Not to mention she needed to avoid Michael and was very keen to do so, given the looks he'd been giving her.

KITT had been right of course and the semi rolled over to them exactly when he had predicted it would, Amber and Bonnie helped coax KARR into the semi then said goodbye to KITT, Michael and Ash, expecting that the three of them would want to spend some time together.

It was a tense ride back to the mansion, Bonnie and Amber were in the Semi working on KARR while Ashlyn and Michael drove in KITT. Despite being together, the father and daughter weren't quite on speaking terms, but KITT was eager to have things normal again.

'It's good to have you back, Ashley.' KITT said happily.

'It's good to be back KITT.' She smiled and stroked the dashboard. 'I've missed you.'

'We've missed you too, haven't we Michael?' The AI encouraged Michael to join in the conversation.

'Yes.' Michael nodded, keeping his eyes on the road, once again the trio fell into an awkward silence.

'Dad I-'

'How did Amber find out about you?' He asked.

'At the end of the first class she gave me some stuff and it was clear that she knew who I was, I never told her anything, I never told her my real name yet she knew that I was connected to KITT and the Foundation.'

'What did she give you?' He asked calmly.

'A photo and a document.' She replied.

'What was on the document?' Ashlyn didn't answer, what was she supposed to say? That her martial arts teacher gave her a readable copy of her birth certificate! Oh yeah, he would so love to hear that, not! He'd probably cause an accident! So what was she supposed to tell him? 'Ashlyn...'

'Don't call me that!' She snapped. 'My name is Ashley Victoria Knight and I would appreciate it if you would use it!'

Michael looked at her shocked; how did she know her middle name? He didn't even know what it was. Is it her real middle name or did she just make it up?

'How did you know that?' He asked confused.

'Because it was on my birth certificate!' She growled. Michael jerked back in his seat as he put his foot on the brake and drove of the road.

'How did you find your birth certificate?'

'I can't tell you.'

'Why not?' Silence. She just stared at the space ahead of them, refusing to look at the man beside her as he glared at her. 'Answer me.' Nothing. 'Tell me why!' He raised his voice dangerously.

'Why should I?! It's none of your business!'

'Of course it's my business! You're my daughter!'

'Oh since when has that mattered?! You don't care that I'm your daughter until it suits you!'

'What do you mean?! I do care about you! I love y-' She cut him off.

'No you don't! If you loved me you would actually hang out with me! Even when I was with you at the mansion you never spent any time with me! You were always too busy doing your work and going off with KITT!'

'Don't bring KITT into this!' Michael snapped. They both knew that KITT wasn't involved.

'I'm not! You blame me for Amber finding me, but guess what?! It's your fault! You and Devon and that stupid board! If you hadn't sent me away I would have been fine! Amber would never have met me, I wouldn't be living with some weird foster family again and Mathew and Hailey wouldn't be in danger!'

'This is NOT my fault I tried-'

'SHUT UP!' She screamed, tears in her eyes. 'I hate the board, I HATE the Foundation and I HATE YOU!' She opened KITT's door and ran. By now it was night and the only light was from the street lamps and it wasn't hard for her to disappear.

Michael stared out into the night, shocked. What just happened?

Meanwhile on the Semi Amber and Bonnie were trying to get KARR to open his hood so they could start working on trying to remove or at least slow down the virus as well as finding out how he got it.

'Please KARR, I only want to help.'

KARR weighed his options before clicking open his hood for them, "I know, mother. I also know that you'd like to take a closer look at my core processor..." He shivered slightly.

Aside from the obvious dirt and damage of parts loosened and roughly melded to other wrong sections, his engine showed signs of rust, mold and other caked-on substances amongst some dried up seaweed and such. His Alpha Circuits main circuit location was covered in soot and Ash, and a rather rough deep gash through it which had to have been made from a person.

'KARR had told us earlier that one of the technicians that designed him installed it secretly, but had been caught by D'Solo... He never got his chance to report it.' Amber tapped away on the monitor's keyboard, in which the vehicle was currently connected to to gain access to the repressed memories.

Bonnie surveyed the damage and was becoming more and more down hearted, KARR was in a worse state than she could have imagined, it was a wonder he could even move at all. She shook her head and sighed, she had seen KITT beat up worse than this, practically destroyed, yet she always knew how to fix him up and now she sees her oldest "son" dying of something she didn't know how to treat. It was heartbreaking. However her thoughts were soon interrupted when KARR spoke.

'Ash is calling.' He murmured.

'Could you patch it through?' Bonnie asked cautiously.

He didn't answer, but seconds later Ashlyn's face appeared on the monitor. Bonnie's eyes widened as she observed the girl; her usual bright blue eyes were now red and blood shot, tears were running down her pale face and her lips trembled as she spoke.

'H-Help me.' She whimpered.

'Ashley, what happened? Where's Michael and KITT?' She asked worried. Amber came over and put her hand on the woman's shoulder.

'Lets get her in here, then she can tell us what happened.' She suggested. Bonnie nodded and they picked her up.

'Mummy!' Ashlyn cried. Once inside she ran straight to Bonnie and wrapped her small arms tightly around the woman's waist. Bonnie was shocked as she held the girl tightly to her, feeling her hot tears on her shirt and the young girl's body shook as each heavy sob she emitted wracked it.

Why would she call her Mummy? She admitted (only to herself) that she had indeed felt like a mother figure to her before she left, but she had never told anyone that before. Actually that had been one of the many reasons she hoped that Michael would make their relationship more permanent because of how much she liked his daughter and believed that she deserved a proper family. It was with this thought in her mind that Bonnie gently ran her hands through the girl's chestnut hair as she attempted to calm her down.

'Shh.' She whispered softly. 'It's alright, nothing is going to hurt you here.'

Ashlyn buried her head in her mother's chest after she kneeled down to her height, she knew she would have to explain herself, but she didn't care. All she wanted right now was for someone to hold her and tell her that they loved her.

Despite his current condition himself, he beeped his younger brother. 'Brother, what happened? Come here, and bring Michael. Please. Ash's with me, Amber and Bonnie.' He tried to keep his talking to a minimum at the very least.

Amber sighed, 'As for KARR maybe something could be done to keep the virus contained in one spot, might make it less painful and exhausting to him.' Suggesting to Bonnie, chancing a look up at her before turning her attention back at Ashley.

'That could work until we find out how to get rid of it entirely.' Bonnie replied.

She gave the older woman a nod, 'I'm hoping at least one of his repressed memories may hold a clue on how to deactivate it or remove it.' Amber smiled kindly at the siblings, 'Now, both of you rest up.' She a put pillow and blanket on the passenger seat of KARR that he offered his "sister" silently, seat already folded back.

Ashlyn silently crawled inside and lied on the seat, closing her eyes and smiling as Bonnie walked over and pulled the blanket over her. Minutes later the slow even sound of her breathing told them all the the young girl had fallen fast asleep and Bonnie silently wished her pleasant dreams before getting back to work.

'How long has he been like this?' She asked looking at the machine in front of her.

Amber gave the technician a rather sad look, 'With it being 1993, it has been likely 6 years since his last encounter with his brother. Though, if you wish to add in any damage from the times before then... Eleven years, total.'

'That's terrible, I wish I'd been able to help him sooner so I could have saved him all this pain.'

'He truly is still upset that you guys tried to kill him, he believed FLAG had abandoned him. He had been quite hurt when KITT left after their second confrontation, with neither bothering to check on whether he was still actually alive.' Amber explained, 'As for Ashley, I didn't know her at the time but did recognize her from an old photo I had. So, if I could recognize her so could anyone else that has seen her before...'

'So she's still is as much danger now as before, I knew doing this was a bad idea, at least when she was with us we could protect her.' She sighed. 'The last time we spoke with her she said she had an appointment with the doctor to make sure her shoulder was healing well, I believe that was scheduled for some time in the next few days. I just don't see what could have made her so upset though, what happened?' She began tapping on the keyboard of her computer.

'Here comes someone who should be able to answer that question.' Amber replied as Michael and KITT drove in.

Bonnie was over by them as soon as Michael got out of the car and was ready to stop him from going into a full meltdown as he began blurting out incoherent words and his eyes darted around everywhere looking for some trace of his daughter. Bonnie gently grabbed hold of his chin and forced him to look at her so she could get his attention and hopefully calm him down enough so he could tell her what happened as Ashlyn hadn't.

'Michael, it's ok, Ashley's here.'

'Where?' He asked.

'Over here, but keep your voice down.' She lead him over to KARR where they observed the girl sleeping soundly, but Bonnie's eyebrows furrowed slightly as she noticed Ashlyn's mouth turned down in a small frown and she began to twitch and groan quietly.

'What's wrong with her?' Michael asked worried.

'She might be having a nightmare.' Bonnie mused.

Amber approached them, 'I believe I have an idea on the Ashley being adopted into the Rider family, speaking of why don't you go pick up her Siblings at the school and I'll go get Prince then I will tell you what I think is going on?'

'She is a Police Officer after all.' KARR stated, while his mother did some more checking on him.

'Alright, I'll do anything to get some answers.' Michael nodded. 'Besides the kids have met me before so hopefully they'll be a little more trusting of me.'

'Now, one the two persons you're hunting, unfortunately is currently under Witness Protection. Yes, I do know his new name but currently can't provide that information.' Amber told them, truthfully. 'Secondly, with Baxter still out there it's more likely him tricking the board with Devon's voice and vice-versa. And third, fake Devon's still around. Eliot.' Michael's eyes narrowed as he looked at the young woman and an almost predatory growl escaped his throat.

'You know where _he_ is, don't you? You know how we can find him, I don't care if he's in Witness Protection or not, he's a murderer! I swear if you know how to get him and you don't tell us I'll-'

'Michael!' Bonnie hit him and snapped him out of it. 'Don't do that!' The man shook his head, taking a breath and his gaze moved to his girlfriend.

'I'm sorry Bonnie... I just want all of this to be laid to rest.'

'I know, but you can't just start threatening people. That's not you, Michael, and you know it.'

Amber then looked straight at Michael, 'Any evidence that might be found likely would point to your brother, Garthe. Indeed he still lives, but I can assure you it can't be him. Legitimate alibi; babysitter with your sister, Jennifer.'

'What?! I thought Garthe was dead! Why would he be with Jennifer, she was terrified of him?! Babysitter?! What?!' Before anyone could say anything else a soft yawn was heard and a small girl tiredly climbed out of KARR. Rubbing her eyes she walked over to the group and went straight to Bonnie, who cuddled her.

'Hello sleepyhead, feeling better?' She asked softly, frowning when the girl shook her head.

'Uh uh... Not with him here.' She looked to Michael and poked out her tongue before hugging Bonnie again.

Michael sighed, he could see the question already forming on Bonnie's lips, "what happened?" He knew it was his fault the girl was upset, he should have explained what was going on and been more understanding on the drive, if he'd done that then they wouldn't have had a fight and she would be hugging him now while he was driving KITT, or KITT was driving himself most likely.

Ash then stared up at Amber. 'How's KARR?'

'I won't, but could charge you just now for threatening an officer.' She warned them, 'And I think it'd be better if you stopped interrupting her when she's trying to explain things.'

Despite him knowing that the woman was right Michael glared at her. 'I don't need you to tell me how to talk to my daughter.' He turned on his heel and started to walk away, pausing to look back at Bonnie and Ashley. 'We'll talk when I get back, I've got to go get the kids.' Without another word he went and got into KITT, the two of them driving off to pick up the Rider children.

Amber looked to Bonnie at the young girl's question, 'Not so good.' She answered, 'So, you're going need to remove his core unit to better assess the damage and transfer him to new circuits if required?' Amber half asked Bonnie.

'If need be yes.' She nodded. 'I'll do my best to repair what I can now and try to relieve as much of his pain as I can.'

'As I'll need to borrow him to get Prince but after...'

'When you come back we'll get him to the garage and the real work will start.'

'Won't be easy, as he's gained a fear of the dark; of being blind.' Amber responded in turn, running her hand gently along his hood soothingly.

'We'll do what we can to make it as easy and non-frightening as possible for him.' She nodded, though she knew this was going to be difficult. She was determined to help her son and make up for the pain she had put him through in the past.


	40. Chapter 38

**Hello all of my amazing readers! How are we? Great? That's awesome. I am finally here with the chapter that I have been promising and I hope you like it! It doesn't have much action I'm afraid, it is rather fluffy though so um... Yeah! Just wanted to give credit to again Decrosse for helping me write this and and allowing me to use her OC. Now let's get on to the chapter!**

-/-/-

Bonnie and Amber tried to get KARR to open his hood so they could look inside and see the damage that had been done to the poor car's systems as well as try to fix it. The trans-am however was frightened and wasn't sure about allowing them to look.

'Please KARR, I don't want to hurt you... I want you to get better but I can only make that happen if you allow me to help you.'

The car relented and, albeit reluctantly, opened his hood. Bonnie was shocked by the amount of damage that had been done to his engine and while she didn't say anything she sent a look to Amber as if silently asking how in the world he had been able to keep going like he had.

'He's a fighter.' The younger woman murmured, bending down to gently touch his golden scanner.

'He is indeed.' Bonnie nodded. 'I'm sorry to frighten you KARR, and this may hurt a little, but I'm only trying to help you.' She started looking around at his engine hoping to fully asses the damage and find a place to start working on him.

She started to move some of the wires and attempted to remove them replace what she could with new ones, however as she came to a particularly busted circuit and went to see just how bad it was KARR made a sound of pain and Bonnie snatched her hands away and jumped back just seconds before he slammed his hood.

'Looks like we should avoid touching that one for the time, as much as possible.' Amber stroked his prow before carefully scratching under it near the wheels causing him to calm down enough to purr.

'I agree.' She nodded, though she was saddened that her "son" was in so much pain, she couldn't help giving a small smile at hearing him purr. 'Ok KARR, do you think you could open your hood and let me take another look? I promise I won't touch that one again.' At first he didn't respond, but after a few moment his hood opened though his wheels seemed to quiver softly.

Despite the fact she was tired Ashley watched her mother and friend work, knowing that trying to sleep in KARR while he was being repaired would be useless. She felt sorry for her "brother" it was clear he had suffered a lot and she just hoped that he was able to be fixed so that he wouldn't have to feel pain anymore.

Amber helped to clean out KARR's engine of debris as best she could, as well as keep him calm enough to allow Bonnie to replace what she could temporarily. The two women patched up the car as best they could before the younger had to drive him to the Riders' house to make sure that Prince was ok before going to check on the Riders' themselves.

'Tell me when you find Prince... Please?' Ashley asked, worried for her little dog.

'Of course.' Amber reassured Ashley on her question, still helping to disconnect certain wires that could be a danger and still being wary of which ones cause him more pain than others...

Once they had done all they could at that time Amber drove KARR to Hailey and Mathew's house, upon arriving she quickly picked the lock on the door to the Riders' house. Just as Amber got the door open she turned and glanced at the black and silver t-top that was parked a few meters behind her.

'Is there anyone inside?' She asked quietly.

'My scan detects no life forms except what appears to be a small dog.' The car replied.

'That'll be Prince.' She murmured. 'Use surveillance mode and tell me if anyone's coming.'

'Please hurry.'

'I will, hang in there.' She replied then she walked into the house.

The first thing she noticed was that the place had been trashed, someone had definitely been there recently, everything was on the floor, broken. In the hall there were cracked picture frames and as she entered the kitchen she discovered broken plates and smashed trinkets.

The pantry had been emptied out and its content left all over the ground creating a maze to walk through as she made her way to the back door. Looking out into the yard she saw their target: a small sable Shetland puppy, lying on its side in the grass. She opened the door and walked out, shaking her head at the condition of the small dog, it had been hurt. The poor thing now had a gash in its side, it's fur was matted with blood and its breathing was shallow.

'What's it look like in there?' KARR's voice came over the comlink.

'Not good, someone else has been here looking for something. How far away is the nearest vet?' She asked.

'Exactly 1.25 miles.' He replied.

'Ok, call Ashlyn and tell her that something's come up and it will be a little longer before I can come back for her, tell her I'll explain everything when I get back.' She requested before picking the little dog up in her arms and heading back inside. KARR did as he was told and contacted Ashlyn on her comlink.

'Ashley?'

Back at the semi Ashley could barely keep her eyes open and who could blame her? It was late, way past her bedtime, and she'd had a very busy day. However she gave up on trying to sleep as her comlink beeped.

'KITT?' She asked.

'Guess again.'

'KARR.' She realised. 'What's going on? Where's Amber? Have you got Prince?'

'You really like asking questions don't you?' The AI chuckled. 'However I was instructed to tell you that it will be a little longer than anticipated before we return to pick you up and Amber says she will explain everything when she gets back.' He said ending the call. Amber then came and placed the dog on the front passenger seat of KARR.

'Monitor the dogs vitals please, I'll be back in a minute, I just want to check something real quick.' She said shutting the door and rushing back into the house. She then went into what was Ashlyn's room and despite already seeing the state of the rest of the house she was still surprised at how messed up it was.

There were clothes and papers all over the floor, the drawers in both the mahogany desk and her chest of draws were left open and the pillows were all over the place several of which had the stuffing ripped out of them. The room was a total mess, but among the chaos Amber managed to find what the people had no doubt been searching for: Ashlyn's birth certificate.

It was perfectly preserved in a double false bottom of her study desk. She smiled, this kid new what she was doing, but she was surprised to find something else in there as well: a diary. Knowing how important privacy is to people she decided not to touch it and took the certificate back, replacing the false bottoms and about to leave when she decided checking to be certain whoever was here earlier hadn't rudely invaded the young girl's diary.

'Hey KARR, could you tell me if there is a page or so missing from this? I can't really tell without opening it.' Pointing her comlink at the small book, she decided that dependent on the response would determine whether she leaves it or takes it along.

'Yes, it would seem that at least two pages have been taken from the book.' He replied. Amber growled slightly, carefully stuffing the small book into her leather jacket pocket and left he house.

'Is everything alright?' KARR asked as his driver was seated and they pulled out of the driveway back on to the street.

'Yeah, how's the dog?'

'He's getting weaker.'

'Ok then let's step on it.' She said and they sped toward the the vet. "How's traffic by the way?'

'Not good, my scans indicate a 5-vehicle traffic collision including some big rigs. Even my turbo boost would be no good.'

'Damn. Screw it, head back to the semi.' Putting him on auto drive and leaning over to the young pup. 'Luckily my living in the wilderness taught me how to treat a variety of animals.' She begun her first aid, carefully yet gentle snipping off the matted fur to truly see the extent of the damage, while using a syringe offered by KARR to both keep the dog alive and dull the pain, 'How deep, and how bad? Meaning whether any important organs or arteries are pierced, anything broken?'

'My Xray mode shows no internal damage aside from a broken front left leg. As for the gash wound, he's lucky he's a rather fluffy breed thus not very deep.' KARR replied, while his tires screeched on a sharp-right turn.

'Thankfully. Have Ashlyn first get KITT to investigate the Rider's home, maybe there's something they'll find that we weren't able to considering our rush for this puppy.' Amber requested while stitching up the gash, then moving on to casting the young pup's leg, 'Then have them; Ashlyn set up a soft comfortable place.'

In the semi Ashlyn was beginning to worry, what KARR had said didn't sound good, something must have happened and she just hoped that no one was hurt, but she had a feeling that wasn't the case. After that she started to get more than a little antsy and Bonnie noticed.

'Are you ok?' She asked.

'Yeah, why wouldn't I be?' She asked shrugging off her concern.

'You're upset... You're worried about Prince, aren't you?'

'I'm fine, I swear.'

'Ashley, remember it's me, you know you can always talk to me.' She sighed and nodded before slowly walking over and hugging her when the woman knelt to her height.

'I hope he isn't hurt.'

'I'm sure he isn't... Don't worry Ash, everything will be alright, he'll be fine.'

'But what if he isn't?! What if they hurt him and he's in pain and he...' Tears started to flow from her eyes and down her pale cheeks. Bonnie held her tighter and gently rubbed the young girl's back before picking her up and going to sit in a nearby chair, placing her on her lap.

'It will be ok... Hush...' Bonnie tried to soothe the distressed child then she remembered what Ash had called her when she had first raced into the semi. 'Mummy's here...' Ash was surprised to hear Bonnie say that, after all she had no idea that she actually was her biological mother, or at least that's what Ashley had assumed.

Bonnie was also surprised to hear herself say it and realised how natural it felt when she did, right now she truly felt like she was her mother and even though she thought it wasn't impossible she decided that for now she would be Ashley's mum. Ash soon snuggled into the woman and after being calmed down she fell asleep with Bonnie still holding and cuddling her.

While the girl slept the semi arrived at the Foundation and once KARR returned he would be able to have a more thorough check up and Bonnie would be able to repair him properly. Sadly Ashley didn't get to nap for long as the beeping of her comlink woke her up and she answered it though she was still groggy.

'KARR?'

'Yeah, Amber wants you call my brother and ask him to investigate your home and then you need to set up a place for the puppy to rest and lie down.'

'You have Prince?' She asked happily, all of a sudden it seemed as if her tiredness was gone.

'Yes.' He confirmed.

'Thank goodness, how is he?' Bonnie asked.

'You'll find out when we get him home, just do as we ask please.'

'Ok KARR see you soon.' Then the vehicle ended the conversation.

'Ok sweetheart, let's get you inside.' The woman held on to Ash as she stood up and left the semi, carrying the girl carefully as she walked into the mansion. 'Happy to be home again?' She asked softly.

'Mhm...' Ashley mumbled sleepily and nodded.

'I'm glad you're back... Now you stay here for a minute, I'll try and make a place for Prince to lie down, you call KITT and ask him has he got the kids and how far away they are.' She put the child on the couch in the living room then went to get some of the spare blankets they had and Ashley called her other brother.

'KITT?'

'Ashley?' The young girl smiled upon the voice of her best friend and brother coming through the comlink.

'KITT, I need some help.'

'What's happened? Are you alright?' He asked worried, but glad to change the subject.

'Yes, but I need you to come and examine the house that you dropped me off at, I'll explain more when you get there.'

'Very well, I'll tell Michael, we've picked up the Rider children and are headed back to the semi, we will go to the house after we drop the kids off, see you soon Ashley.'

'Bye KITT.' She replied only to look up and see that Bonnie was setting, up a place for Prince when Amber and KARR brought him in, which wasn't long. A commotion outside attracted her attention to the front of the house.

'Sounds like Amber's back.' She said and raced to the door, anxious to see her puppy again.

KARR powerslided into the garage rather quickly soon after alerting them, Amber nearly jumping out of KARR grabbing a clean yet rather soft towel and rushing to his other side to wrap "Prince" before gently lifting him and cautiously entering the mansion and flopping on the couch with Prince secured in her arms while Ashley stared shocked at how her precious pet had been hurt.

'Is he gonna be ok?' She asked, frightened for the little dog.

'He should be fine in a few days provided he doesn't jump around too much, he still should get a vet checkup within the week.'

She gently ran her fingers through his fur, both to comfort him and herself. She loved him, he had become her closest friend along with KITT and Mathew, KARR had also joined this list and while she was close to all of them her relationship with the puppy was different. He had been a present from her family and he had stood by her since he was given to her and she had taken care of him, fed him, gave him water, played with him and she had even snuck him into the house to let him sleep in her bed with her.

However she soon began to grow tired once again and she yawned, rubbing her eyes as she fought to stay awake. She didn't want to go to sleep, not with her Prince injured. She wanted to stay with him and make sure that he was alright.

'You should get to bed, Amber and I will watch over Prince.' Bonnie murmured, tilting her head to indicate that the girl should go upstairs to her room, but Ashely shook her head.

'Uh uh... I wanna stay.' Bonnie sighed and went over to her, bending over to wrap her arms around her and lift her off the couch.

'Come on, I'm not letting you fall asleep down here when I know you'll get a much better sleep in your room.'

'But what about Mathew and Hailey? What about dad and KITT? They aren't back yet. I wanna wait up and see them.'

'They'll be here soon and I'll let them come up to your room when they get in, now say goodnight Amber.'

'Fine.' She mumbled, obviously unhappy. 'Night Amber, take good care of Prince.'

Amber smiled gently at them both. 'Of course I will, as I do have some dogs of my own.'

With that Bonnie carried her upstairs to her room, Ashley had to admit it felt nice to be back in her old room again, she had missed it. She smiled lazily up at her mother as the woman put her down on her bed and after taking her shoes off, laid her down and tucked her in. She yawned again and her eyes fluttered closed.

'Goodnight... Mummy.' She murmured and after a moment fell asleep, tired from her long and eventful day. Bonnie looked down at the girl, a motherly smile on her face before gently brushing some of her chestnut coloured hair out of her face and bending down to kiss her forehead.

'Sleep well, my little one.'

With that she stood back up and went to the door, turning the light off on the way out.

Back downstairs Michael had just walked in accompanied by Mathew and Hailey. The kids looked tired, but their faces showed awe as they took in the inside of the mansion. Amber greeted them on their return, promising to check on their parents soon. They nodded and thanked her, the two of them were eager to know how their mum and dad were doing in the hospital.

Michael then took charge of the two of them and took them upstairs to give them one of the spare rooms to use and a bed to sleep in. He asked them if they minded sharing a bed and being siblings of course they didn't so Michael soon said goodnight and left them to sleep. On the way back downstairs he stopped at his daughter's room and smiled when he discovered Bonnie standing in the doorway watching the little girl sleeping peacefully.

'Hi.' He smiled softly.

'Hey.' She turned slightly to return his expression before he leaned forward and gave her a gentle kiss. 'You took your time coming home.'

'Well the kids weren't to sure of getting in a car with a strange man they had only seen a couple of times.' He explained, the woman nodded in understanding.

'Well at least we know their cautious, that's good.'

'True.' Michael moved his gaze to the sleeping form in the darkened room before them. 'So how is she?'

'In a word, tired. She was practically exhausted after everything that happened today.' She replied.

'I don't blame her, it's been a long day for all of us.'

'Indeed, come on we should go back downstairs, I've got to work on KARR again.' So the two of them went back downstairs and talked with Amber before going to help KARR.

-/-/-

**So what did you think? I'm sorry, it probably wasn't worth the wait, but I hope it's not too disappointing. Well that's it until the next chapter, bye!**

**~ Lexa**


	41. Chapter 39

While they were taking care of things inside, KARR reversed out of the garage to sit on a hill under a tree as a soft wind blew in the night. KITT soon arrived and he watched as Michael and the Rider children went inside and KITT sat silently near the garage. He was confused, he had scanned it expecting to see him in there, but he wasn't instead he was under the tree.

He drove over and parked beside him. 'How did it go? Was Prince alright?'

KARR was silent for a time, until he replied softly. 'The house apparently is a mess, and Prince got injured.'

'Oh dear... Ashley will be upset, she loves that little dog, especially since he was her birthday present from us.' The car let out a sigh. 'It seems as though every time she moves or has to stay somewhere new she just gets settled and then something terrible happens.'

'Hmm.' The two of them then fell into silence and they sat together quietly, the silence was broken when KARR sighed. 'Brother... How've you been lately?'

'I've been fine, better since you have come back though... I've missed you, KARR. Why do you ask?'

KARR thought carefully, 'I don't mean to bring up any bad memories but... Have... You ever wondered how you've been revived those times you were nearly destroyed?'

'Of course I have, wouldn't you? I know that I was bad shape and each time it happened I was hurt worse and worse, I have wondered how I was able to be saved, I trust in Bonnie's abilities, but...' He trailed off.

'We... share a link.' KARR stated. 'Apparently there was some coding error which caused us to have a backup of each other's main programming, so if one of us was to be killed the other likely would soon follow. Thus, one of two reasons I couldn't kill you; the other being after losing D'Solo who was like a brother to me, I just couldn't lose my only brother...'

KITT didn't know what to say, it seemed unbelievable, yet somehow it made sense. His Ruby scanner slowly moved back and forth as he tried to make sense of it. He decided to believe what his older brother was telling him, but he had a bad feeling there was more.

He let that sink in first, before continuing "Due to the link and my currently being affected by a nanovirus, you could have caught it - it starts out dormant making it impossible to detect..."

'I... What...?!' KITT's wheels trembled and his scanner sped up drastically. He knew how damaging the virus was just from seeing his brother suffer, the idea that he... He didn't want to think about it, yet the idea circled around and around in his processor and the more it did the more it frightened him. 'K-KARR...!' His voice wavered.

The older car nuzzled right up against his brother, in a form of a hug. 'Be strong, for me and I will for you. Please. I will keep a connection line open while you go investigate the Rider's home in a moment, message me on anything weird or you feeling strange...'

'Alright.' He murmured. 'I guess this just means that Bonnie and Amber might have to use the method they discover to remove the virus twice.' He tried to remain positive, Michael and Bonnie wouldn't let him perish, they cared too much for that and if there was a way to stop the virus then Bonnie and Amber would find it.

The two cars sat there for some time longer until Michael came out of the mansion and saw them. 'I'm sorry to split you two up, but it's time to go KITT. We need to check out the house see if we can find any clues to who was there before Amber and KARR.'

'Coming Michael.' The younger cars voice didn't sound as enthusiastic as it usually did and before he drove slowly over his partner he spoke again. 'I will see you when we come back and I promise to keep you informed of what's going on.' KARR flashed his blinkers in acknowledgement, before taking his time to get to the garage.

KITT pulled up in front of Michael and opened the drivers side door for him, his friend got in and shut the door, patting his dashboard before driving off down the driveway and onto the road.

'You and KARR are getting close to each other, aren't you?' The man noted.

'Yes, well he is my brother Michael, why? Would you rather we didn't?'

'No, I think it's good... KARR is going to need you, now more than ever. Bonnie and Amber told me they tried to help him before and he panicked and slammed his hood down. So Amber thinks it would be a good idea if you were there with him whenever they work on him. To keep him calm.'

'I will be there with him. Michael... If... If I got the virus...'

'KITT that won't happen, this isn't the sort of virus you can catch, it's not contagious.'

'I know that Michael.' He snapped, his driver was taken aback. 'I'm sorry... It's just-'

'I know, you're stressed. Look pal, I get the feeling there's more behind that question than what I originally thought, but how about we talk about it when we get home, huh?'

'That's probably for the best.'

So the rest of the drive proceeded in silence until they reached the Riders house. The black t-top drove up the driveway. They couldn't help noticing that every house in the street was different, not one was the same. As if having the same look as anyone in the neighbourhood was akin to wearing the same dress to a high society ball. Each one was a unique combination of curves and geometric shapes, always in natural colours, never garish.

Though it seemed as if the Riders home was a little different, it was mostly white with blue and seemed more square than the other houses. It was double story and while it looked good it there were still parts that looked in need of repair.

'Well this is it. Back again.' Michael climbed out and went up to the door, only to find it had been left open slightly. He sighed, fingers crossed that no one else had been inside and changed or taken things.

'Tell me what you find.' KITT requested.

'Of course, keep your scanner peeled.' The man then slipped inside the house.

Though the house was still a mess, there were signs that someone had been here prior to his visit, after Amber had left on securing Prince and a few items of Ashley's. Fresh tracks in the spilt flour led from the kitchen and up the stairs.

He was shocked to see the state of the house, who had done this? What did they want? He began to search the house, following the footprints upstairs to see what damage they had done there and what they could possibly have been searching for.

The tracks had led into Ash's room before the others. The computer sitting on the wooden simple desk was missing it's external hard drives, and all thumb drives were gone from the drawer they were in as it had been left open. Some other electronics were taken, such as toys and apparently her Teddy Bear.

The screen of the computer monitor showed an error message saying something along the lines of "No Bootable Drive found" though the case itself didn't appear to have been tampered with.

Michael growled, what would someone want with all of this stuff? Ashley was a child, why would the computer in her room have anything useful on it and why on earth would someone take a child's teddy? It was crazy! It annoyed him, he would have liked to have taken it back to Ash and now he would have to tell her that whoever ransacked the house had stolen it!

'KITT, use my comlink to scan for fingerprints would ya?'

'Certainly Michael.' The FLAG agent moved around the room, facing his comlink towards the walls, desk, door, doorknob and anything else this guy might have touched. 'I'm sorry, Michael, whoever did this must have been wearing gloves because I can't detect any fingerprints.'

'Damn!' He cursed.

After he had searched his daughter's room he went into the next one, her brother's. This room wasn't as messed up as the others he had seen so far, however again any electronics were gone as well as some books. On closer inspection of the door entrance there appeared be what looked like either blood or ketchup, fairly recently. He pulled a small piece of paper out of his pocket and carefully scraped off some of the substance, he would take it down to KITT to have it analysed.

Hailey's room was the same as Mathew's and so was their parents bedroom. All of the electronics were gone along with all of the money and Teagan's jewellery. However when I searched the bathroom I found something else; a bloodied bandage in the little bin near the sink.

Interesting...

He would have to tell Devon about this and possibly get the police involved. After checking the bathroom he went to the kitchen. As expected the cupboards had been completely emptied out, hence the spilt flower that had led him upstairs. As he looked around he soon found part of a glove on the floor, it had been ripped off, it was shredded almost as if... A dog had bit it off...! Prince!

He would have to remember to thank that little puppy, at least he put up a fight to try and stop whoever did all this. He then walked back outside and got into his car.

'I found something, analyse this for me would ya pal?' He didn't answer, merely going ahead and analysing it.

'It's blood, type O minus. It's not very common.'

'Alright, now let's see what this can tell us.' He allowed the car to analyse the piece from the glove which was revealed to have skin flakes on it.

'These skin flakes show that whoever was wearing the gloves was African-Asian or an African America-Asian man.' He informed his partner.

'It looks like we have someone new mixed up in this now. Oh well, let's get back to the mansion and tell the others what we found.' So the two of them drove back to the mansion to inform the others of what they had discovered.

They talked more on the drive back and KITT informed KARR that everything had gone smoothly and that he was feeling fine. He knew that he and his brother would have to tell Michael and Bonnie about the fact there was a chance that he could get the virus and he wasn't looking forward to telling them. However there was one more person he was even more worried to tell, Ashley. He was definitely considering keeping the information from the little girl, after all she would have enough to deal with and so KITT decided that when he told Michael and Bonnie he wouldn't let them tell her.

When they got to the mansion KITT pulled into the garage beside his brother and Michael went in to talk to Bonnie and Amber.


	42. Sorry Guys!

Hey everyone I'm sorry to have left this book unattended for so long but I've been really busy and along with that I'm just lacking the inspiration to write. Sigh... Oh well I have exams for the next three days starting tomorrow. Maybe after that I'll be able to sit down and really get into writing again. If you guys have any more ideas on what I should write in this story please, please, PLEASE tell me! Anyway, that's all for now! Bye!

~ Lexa


	43. Chapter 41

The next morning Ashley woke up a little late, having been so tired from yesterday, she sat up, yawned and stretched before looking around and realising that she wasn't in her room at the Rider's house. She frowned for a moment, where...? It suddenly dawned on her as the memories from the day before rushed back to her. She was home. A grin spread a cross her face as she pulled the blanket and duvet back before jumping out of bed and racing down the hall into her father's room.

When she got there she didn't bother to knock on the door before pushing it open, running in and jumping on the bed! She laughed as she landed beside him, jolting him awake.

'Morning daddy!' She grinned happily.

'Good morning Ashley.' He turned his head to smile at her sleepily. 'I'm glad to see you're not upset with me.'

'Who said I wasn't?' She arched a brow at her father.

'Well no one, but I think you will now...!' He turned over completely and began to tickle her. She squealed and tried to wriggle away from him, but to no avail as he sat up and pinned her down so he could continue his tickle torture. 'Surrender and say you still love me!'

'Never!' She giggled and tried to tickle him back. 'You surrender and admit I have every right to still be angry!'

'No!' He grinned and they rolled around on the bed until Ash let out a shriek as she nearly fell off the bed! Michael gasped and quickly grabbed her ankle while her upper body hung off the side of the bed, stopping her from hitting the carpeted floor face first. The young girl's squeals alerted her mother and the mechanic walked into the room, gasping when she saw her boyfriends daughter hanging upside down off his bed, giggling loudly.

'Ashley what on earth are you doing? You're going to get hurt!' She exclaimed, but Ash merely grinned up at her happily.

'No I won't! Oh and good morning Bonnie.'

Bonnie felt her smile droop ever so slightly, after the previous day part of her had hoped that the girl would continue to call her mum, but it seemed the rational part of her mind had won, it had only been for one night when the little girl was tired and upset that she had called her that. So now it was back to just Bonnie. Still she tried to keep smiling and pretending that she was fine.

'Good morning to you too. Well shouldn't you two be getting up? My son's birthday is in a couple of days and I want to do something nice for him, so get up and come help me.' She helped Ash back up onto the bed so she didn't fall and hit her head on the floor, then grabbed Michael and began dragging him over to the bathroom so he could have a shower.

Not wanting to hang around being bored Ashley went downstairs where she hoped to find something to do or someone to talk to. Upon finding no one she went to the garage and smiled as she saw both KITT and KARR parked there with Amber sleeping inside car with a fluffy orange puppy on the other seat. Ash couldn't help but smile, they just looked so cute and knowing that they were no doubt all exhausted she went back into the house and decided to get dressed before going and turning the TV on so she could watch cartoons.

However she was eventually interrupted as she heard a muffled yawn and she turned the TV off and went to see that her "sister" was now awake and hungry.

'Hi Hailey.' Ash smiled and went over to the other, hugging her. 'I'm sorry I didn't get to see you when you got here last night, Bonnie made me go to bed.'

'Who's Bonnie?' Hailey asked confused as she tried to stifle another yawn.

'My dad's girlfriend.'

'Your dad? As in your real dad?'

'Yep. I guess it's ok to tell you guys now, Michael is my real dad, my real name is Ashley Victoria Knight.' She explained then grabbed the other girl's hand and began walking down the stairs. 'Now come on, let's go and see if we can find something to eat.' Hailey nodded and the two headed to the kitchen.

Upon arriving they discovered Bonnie already there making breakfast for all of them. Ashley smiled and went over to hug the woman, but as she did so a small frown appeared in her face.

'What's wrong?' Bonnie asked, noticing her expression.

'Nothing's _wrong_, but earlier you said your son's birthday is coming up, I don't get it. Who's birthday is it?'

'Well KITT's of course.' She smiled and Ashley's face light up as she understood.

'Really? It's KITT's birthday? When?'

'Not long away now, just a few days, and I want to give him a nice birthday this year.'

'Oh can we help?' The young girl asked excitedly, glancing at her "sister" who flashed her a smile, feeling unsure about the car having a birthday party. It seemed so odd to her. However she would soon learn just how much KITT was part of the family and that was far more than a car.

'Of course you can help! Everyone will be helping in some way or another.' Bonnie smiled.

It turns out that it wasn't only Bonnie who had been thinking about KITT's birthday, outside in the garage KARR sighed quietly to himself, he knew his little brother's birthday was fast approaching. He considered what he would do for him on that day, and if he could get him something. He would need to talk to mother later, when KITT wasn't near. He made notes of the weather amongst other things.

He too wanted KITT's birthday to be a fun event, believing his little brother deserved to have a day just for him that he could spend with his friends. The only problem was he had never done anything for a birthday, or at least not one for his brother, and wasn't sure what the other car would like. He knew that asking the other car would potentially ruin the aspect of surprise if he went about it the wrong way or if KITT realised why he was asking, which wasn't something KARR wanted. He thought his brother would like a surprise of some sort and didn't want to put that in jeopardy by putting his "tyre in his mouth", so to speak, when asking him what he would like.

So what to do? He didn't have long to think about it, KITT's birthday was in just a few days and he had no idea what to give him. Perhaps Bonnie would know, she had spent a lot more time with the other car than he had and from what he had seen the two were very close. Asking Michael was also an option, or maybe Ashley. They should have a meeting soon to discuss these kinds of things so they could organise the party and give KITT the birthday he deserved.

The younger car, however, wasn't thinking about his upcoming birthday. In fact it was the last thing in his processor right now. Instead he was thinking about how he was going to tell Michael and Bonnie that there was a chance he could get the same deadly virus that KARR had. It would crush them to know that he could end up in the same shape as his brother, but they had to know in case it did happen. Though he really hoped it didn't. That would be the greatest birthday present he could have, KARR being well again and not getting the virus himself.

-/-/-

**Hey guys I'm back! I'm sorry that I haven't updated this in such a long time but to be honest I've just run out of inspiration for this book. So I'm warning you that I might start rushing through it a bit just so that I can finish it for you guys then maybe I'll come back at a later date and fix it up. I know that's not great but I'm just not feeling this anymore. If any of you have any ideas or suggestions that could help me get back into this story then I would greatly appreciate your help and support. Thank you all for reading this!**

**~ Lexa**


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